- Horn Expedition
The Horn Scientific Expedition was the first primarily scientific expedition to study the
natural history ofcentral Australia . It took place from May to August 1894, with expedition members first traveling by train fromAdelaide to the railhead atOodnadatta inSouth Australia , then using camels for transport to traverse over 3000 km of largely uncharted country from Oodnadatta through theFinke River basin to Alice Springs and theMacdonnell Ranges in what is now theNorthern Territory .The expedition was equipped and sponsored by William Austin Horn, a wealthy pastoralist and mining magnate, who accompanied the expedition in its early stages. The area studied included the country of the Arrernte and
Luritja people, whose assistance and goodwill was crucial to the success of the expedition through the provision of natural history specimens, artefacts and information. [ [http://www.samuseum.sa.gov.au/aacg/speakingland/story07/07_story.htm SA Museum – Speaking Land] accessed 19 November 2007]Personnel
Members of the expedition, [(1897). The Horn Expedition to Central Australia. "Geographical Journal" 10(1): 51-53] with their responsibilities, included:
* Professor Baldwin Spencer –zoology andphotography , who also edited the official account of the expedition for publication
* DrEdward Charles Stirling –anthropology , who acted as the medical officer
* ProfessorRalph Tate –geology andbotany
* J. A. Watt – geology andmineralogy
* C. Winnecke –meteorology , as well as being the surveyor and leaderOther personnel were two collectors, a cook and four cameleers. [Eaton, E.H. (1900). The Zoology of the Horn Expedition. "American Naturalist" 34, no.397, pp.25-31] Local Aboriginal guides were also used for parts of the expedition.
Achievements
Among the achievements of the expedition was the collection and description of new mammal species, some of which are now locally extinct or threatened, including the: [ [http://www.museumvictoria.com.au/treasures/collDetails.aspx?S
] accessed 19 November 2007]
*Fat-tailed False Antechinus
*Sandhill Dunnart
*Stripe-faced Dunnart
*Kowari
*Central Rock Rat
*Shark Bay Mouse
*Sandy Inland Mouse
*Spinifex Hopping Mouse The expedition was the first to collect fishes from central Australia. New species were described as well as new records made of others. Findings included the lack of evidence for
aestivation by desert fish and the importance of flooding for dispersal. [ [http://www.desertfishes.org/australia/histichy.html Desert Fishes - Past and present ichthyological work in central Australia] accessed 19 November 2007]References
Further reading
* Spencer, Baldwin. (Ed). (1896). "Report on the Work of the Horn Expedition to Central Australia". (4 vols). Dulau and Co: London; and Melville, Mullen & Slade: Melbourne.
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