Dromaius novaehollandiae diemenensis Le Souëf, 1907:13
Tasmanian emu
Taxonomy & Nomenclature
Synonym/s: Dromaeius diemenensis Le Souëf, 1907:13; Dromaeius diemenensis Le Souëf, 1904a,b; Dromaius diemenianus Le Souëf, 1907:13
The taxonomic status of the extinct emus from Flinders Island is not certain (McCarthy, 1965; Serventy, 1967?; Hume & Walters, 2012:23). Julian Hume et al. searched Flinders Island for subfossil material, but did not find any (Hume, 2017; Hume et al., 2017).
Conservation Status
Extinct
Last record: 1830's (Dooley, 2017); 1839 or later; 1865?; 1870 (Basset Hull, 1944); 1873 (Le Souëf, 1904b:230)
Distribution
Tasmania, Australia
Biology & Ecology
Folklore
Aboriginal Song sung by the Women in chorus, by various Tribes of the Natives of Van Diemen's Land.
Nīkkĕh nīngĕh tībrĕh nīckĕh mōllŷgă pōllŷlă...
The married woman hunts the kangaroo and wallaby. . .
Nāmă rykēnnĕh trĕhgānā...
The emu runs in the forest...
Nābĕh thīnnīnnĕh trĕhgānă.
The boomer (kangaroo) runs in the forest.
Nĕhnānĕh kĕhgrēnnă... nynābythĭnnĕh...
The young emu... the little kangaroo...
trīngĕh gūggĕrră... pȳāthĭnnĕh...
the little joey (sucking kangaroo)... the bandicoot...
nŷnābŷthīnnĕh-kōōbrŷnĕh... mārĕh tĕrrēnnĕh...
the little kangaroo-rat... the white kangaroo-rat...
pŷāthĭnnĕh pŭngōōthīnnĕh... lŏŏkōōthīnnĕh...
the little opossum... the ringtailed opossum...
mytōppynĕh... trŷnōōnĕh...
the big opossum... the tiger-cat...
wāthĕrrūngĭnnă... mārĕh būnnă..
the dog-faced opossum... the black cat.
Source: http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks13/1300961h.html
Hypodigm
"Ronald Campbell Gunn also collected animals for the British Museum, including the now extinct Tasmanian emu." (p.181)
(source: Webb, Joan. (2003). The Botanical Endeavour: Journey Towards a Flora of Australia. Chipping Norton, NSW: Surrey Betty & Sons. 289 pp.)
An intact egg with a chick inside is in private hands in Tasmania (Anonymous, pers. comm. 16 November 2016).
Media
Above: A watercolour by William Porden Kay depicts emus at Stanley during the 1840s. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
Above: colour plate by J. G. Keulemans, published in (Mathews, 1910-1911:pl.2).
References
Original scientific description:
Le Souëf, William Henry Dudley (1907). [Description of Dromaius novaehollandiae diemenensis]. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club 21: 13.
Other references:
Anderson, Stewart. (1978). Charles Browne Hardwicke: an early Tasmanian pioneer. Surrey Hills, NSW: Wentworth Press.
Anonymous. (1803). Ship News. The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, Sunday, 16 October, p. 4.
Anonymous. (1804). Ship News. The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, Sunday, 26 August, p. 3.
Anonymous. (1832). [Untitled]. The Hobart Town Courier, Friday, 10 August, p. 4.
Anonymous. (1834). Miscellaneous news. The Hobart Town Courier, Friday, 11 July, p. 4 |3|.
Anonymous. (1837). Game Preservation. Colonial Times, Tuesday, 6 June, p. 5.
Anonymous. (1919). A Tasmanian Sanctuary. The Sydney Mail, Wednesday, 2 April, p. 12. [last emu early 1830's]
Anonymous. (1924). The Tasmanian Emu. Sydney Mail, Wednesday, 2 January, p. 34.
Backhouse, James. (1837). Extracts from the Letters of James Backhouse. London: Harvey and Darton.
Basset Hull, A. F. (1944). Exterminating the emu. The Sydney Morning Herald, Wednesday, 17 May, p. 2 |4|.
Boles, Walter E. (1992). Revision of Dromaius gidju Patterson & Rich 1987 from Riversleigh, northwest Queensland, Australia, with a reassessment of its generic position. Contributions to the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History 36: 195-208.
Boyce, (Peter) James. (2004). A Dog's Breakfast... Lunch and Dinner: Canine Dependency in Early Van Diemen's Land." THRA Papers and Proceedings 51(4): 194-214.
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Boyce, (Peter) James. (2006b). An environmental history of British settlement in Van Diemen's Land: The making of a distinct people, 1798-1831. Doctoral dissertation, University of Tasmania.
Boyce, (Peter) James. (2008a). Return to Eden: Van Diemen's Land and the early British settlement of Australia. Environment and History 14(2): 289-307.
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Brown, S. (1993). Mannalargenna Cave: a Pleistocene site in Bass Strait. In M. A. Smith, M. Spriggs, ([___])#38; B. Fankhauser (Eds.), Sahul in preparation: Pleistocene Archaeology in Australia, New Guinea, and Island Melanesia (pp. 258–271). Department of Prehistory, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University.
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Derham, Tristan et al. (2023). Extinction of the Tasmanian emu and opportunities for rewilding. Global Ecology and Conservation 41: e02358. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2022.e02358
Dickison, Dudley John. (1925). When did the Tasmanian Emu Become Extinct? Emu 25(3): 213.
Dooley, Robert. (2017). From 'abundance of emues' to a rare bird in the land: The extinction of the Tasmanian emu. Papers and Proceedings: Tasmanian Historical Research Association 64(3): 4-17. [Abstract]
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Eberhard, Rolan S. (2020). Tasmanian emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae diemenensis) at the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Launceston: description, provenance, age. Record of the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery 120: i-vi, 1-46.
Ewing, T. J. (1855). List of the Birds of Tasmania. Royal Society of Tasmania papers and proceedings 3: 142-155.
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Garvey, J. (2007). The wallaby hunters of ice age Tasmania: Australasian Science 28: 30-33.
Giglioli, H. H. (1907). On the extinct emu of the small islands off the south coast of Australia and probably Tasmania. Nature 75: 534.
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Government Order 15 September 1807, Collins, David, General and Garrison Orders 1803 -1808, ML AK 341.
Green, R. H. (1989). Birds of Tasmania. Launceston: Potoroo Publishing.
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Hamilton-Arnold, Barbara (ed.). (1994). Letters and Papers of G. P. Harris, 1803-1812: Deputy Surveyor-General of New South Wales at Sullivan Bay, Port Phillip, and Hobart Town, Van Diemen's Land. Sorrento, Victoria: Arden Press.
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Hume, Julian Pender. (2017). In search of the dwarf emu: extinct emus of Australian islands. Talk to be presented on Monday 13 March to the British Ornithologists' Club. [Abstract]
Hume, Julian Pender and Robertson, Christian. (2021). Eggs of extinct dwarf island emus retained large size. Biol. Lett. 17: 20210012. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2021.0012
Hume, Julian Pender, Steel, Lorna, Middleton, Gregory and Medlock, Kathryn. (2017). In search of the dwarf emu: A palaeontological survey of King and Flinders Islands, Bass Strait, Australia. Contribuciones del Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia" 7: 81-98.
Hume, Julian Pender and Walters, Michael. (2012). Extinct Birds. London: T & AD Poyser.
H. V. E. (1928). The Tasmanian Emu. The Sydney Mail, Wednesday, 30 May, p. 19.
Knox, Alan G. and Walters, Michael P. (1994). Extinct and endangered birds in the collections of The Natural History Museum. British Ornithologists' Club Occasional Publications 1: 1-292.
Legge, William Vincent. (1906*). The emus of Tasmania and King Island. Emu 6(3): 116-119.
Le Souëf, D. (1904a). Collection of Australian birds' eggs and nests in the possession of D. Le Souef, Director, Zoological Gardens, Melbourne. Melbourne.
Le Souëf, D. (1904b). Extinct Tasmanian Emu. Emu 3(4): 229-231.
Lhotsky. (1836). Tasmanian sketches. No. 11. Geographical and on Natural History. The Hobart Town Courier, Friday, 28 October, p. 4.
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McCarthy, F. D. (1965). The Emu and the Aborigines. Australian Natural History 15: 16-21.
McCarthy, F. D. (1969). Investigation of Mt Cameron West Rock Engraving Site, Tasmania. Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies Newsletter 1969: 2, 4-6.
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Sims, Peter C. A note on Aboriginal petroglyphs at Devonport, Tasmania. Pap. Proc. R. Soc. Tasmania 1970, 104, 117–118.
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Woinarski, John C. Z., Legge, Sarah M. and Garnett, Stephen T. (2024). Extinct Australian birds: numbers, characteristics, lessons and prospects. Emu 124(1): 8-20. https://doi.org/10.1080/01584197.2023.2240345
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http://www.theadvocate.com.au/story/4777889/who-killed-the-tasmanian-emu/
https://extinctanimals.proboards.com/thread/9318/dromaius-diemenensis-tasmanian-emu
* Published in 1907?