Contents

Geological Time Scale ......................... vii

SECTION ONE: ECOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL BACKGROUND ......................... 1

1. The vegetation of arid Australia: a biotic appraisal - O.B. Williams ......................... 3

2. Soil landscapes of arid Australia - K.H. Northeote and M.J. Wright ......................... 15

3. Landform development in Australia - R.J.Wasson ......................... 23

4. Aridity in the late Tertiary and Quaternary of Australia - J.M. Bowler ......................... 35

5. Environmental determinants of biogeography and evolution in Terra Australis - Henry Nix ......................... 47

6. The Cainozoic palaeobotanical record in arid Australia: fossil evidence for the origin ofan arid-adapted flora - E.M. Truswell and W.K. Harris ......................... 67

7. Proteaceae and the early differentiation of the central Australian flora - A.R.H. Martin ......................... 77

8. Late Cainozoic vertebrate faunas and the development of aridity in Australia - Jeannette Hope ......................... 85

9. Late Pleistocene aridity and aeolian landforms in Western Australia - J.S. Beard ......................... 101

10. Central Australian sand-ridge flora 18,000 years ago: phytogeographic evidence - R. Buckley ......................... 107

11. A review and critique of studies on the phytogeography of arid Australia - R.C. Carolin ......................... 119

12. Selection processes in arid Australia - P.J.M. Greenslade ......................... 125

SECTION TWO: PLANTS: ECOLOGICAL AND REPRODUCTIVE ADAPTATIONS ......................... 131

13. Environmentally adaptive traits in arid zone plants - D.J. Anderson - ......................... 133

14. Regeneration of arid zone plants: a floristic survey - J.R. Maconochie ......................... 141

15. Adaptation of shrub species to fires in the arid zone - K.C. Hodgkinson and G.F. Griffin ......................... 145

16. The significance of fire in the biology and evolutionary ecology of mallee Eucalyptus populations - J.C. Noble ......................... 153

17. Cytogenetic systems in Australian arid zone plants - B.A. Barlow ......................... 161

18. Pollination syndromes and breeding systems of Western Australian arid zone plants - G.J. Keighery ......................... 167

SECTION THREE: VERTEBRATE ANIMALS ......................... 173

19. Adaptations and evolution of the mammals of arid Australia - P.R. Baverstock ......................... 175

20. Adaptations of the red kangaroo and euro (Macropodidae) to aridity - M.J.S. Denny ......................... 179

21. Control of mammalian and avian reproduction in the Australian arid zone, with special reference to rodents - W.G. Breed ......................... 185

22. Origin, adaptation and evolution of birds in arid Australia - R. Schodde ......................... 191

23. Phyletic groups within the family Agamidae (Reptilia: Lacertilia) in Australia - G.J. Witten ......................... 225

24. Adaptation to aridity in lizards of the Egernia whitei species-group - R.P. Henzell ......................... 229

25. Desert adaptations of Cyclorana platycephalus: an holistic approach to desert-adaptation in frogs - E.van Beurden ......................... 235

26. Adaptations of fishes in arid Australia - C.J.M. Glover ................... 241

SECTION FOUR: INVERTEBRATE ANIMALS ......................... 247

27. Distribution and speciation in meat ants, Iridomyrmex purpureus and related species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) - P.J.M. Greenslade and R.B. Halliday ......................... 249

28. Granivory in the Australian arid zone: diversity of harvester ants and structure of their communities - S.R. Morton ......................... 257

29. Distribution, biology and speciation in the Australian harvester termites, Drepanotermes (Isoptera: Termitinae) - J.A.L. Watson ......................... 263

30. Origins of the collembolan fauna of arid Australia - Penelope Greenslade ......................... 267

31. Adaptations to arid habitats by mygalomorph spiders - Barbara York Main ......................... 273

SECTION FIVE: PLANTS: INDIVIDUAL GROUPS ......................... 285

32. Relationships, distribution and evolution of Triodia and Plectrachne (Gramineae) - S.W.L. Jacobs ......................... 287

33. Biogeography and evolution in the shrubby Australian species of Atriplex (Chenopodiaceae) - G.A. Parr-Smith ......................... 291

34. Phytogeography of Acacia (Leguminosae: Mimosoideae) in Central Australia - B.R. Maslin and S.D. Hopper ......................... 301

35. Evolution and biogeography of Leptosema (Leguminosae: Papilionoideae) - M.D. Crisp ......................... 317

36. Distribution and evolution of Euphorbia and Chamaesyce (Euphorbiaceae) in the arid zone of Australia - D.C. Hassall .................. 323

37. Radiation and adaptation of Dodonaea (Sapindaccae) in arid Australia - J.G. West ......................... 329

38. Solanum (Solanaceae) in arid Australia - D.E. Symon ..................... 335

39. Evolution, adaptation and biogeography in arid Australian Scrophulariaceae - W.R. Barker ......................... 341

40. Breeding systems and distribution patterns of some arid Australian genera of the subtribe Gnaphaliinae (Compositae: Inuleae) - P.S. Short ......................... 351

41. Calotis (Compositae), a Pliocene arid-zone genus? - Helen M. Stace ......................... 357

SECTION SIX: CONCLUDING REVIEW ......................... 369

42. Summary and redintegration - S. Smith-White ......................... 371

Index to Plant Names ......................... 381

Index to Animal Names ......................... 387