Australian Barkers and Biters

Council.

Chapter One

THE ORIGIN OF THE DOG

The origin of the Dog has always been a mystery to naturalists. Here is my interpretation of the riddle:

As a boy I spent some years at Holdsworthy, a wild district lying behind Sydney, bounded north and west by the George’s River, which runs into Botany Bay, where the First Fleet anchored and which Governor Phillip speedily left as unsuitable and so abandoned: to sail a few miles farther north into Port Jackson—there to found the Queen City of the Southern Hemisphere—Sydney—and incidentally to found the great White Outpost of the Pacific— Australia.

A few descendants of the old Botany Bay and George’s River tribes of aborigines still remained in that district when I was there; and from them I learnt much of their ancient speech and customs, particularly the names of the wild creatures in the bush.

Amongst these was the Red Native Dog (still fairly plentiful in die ranges and along the banks of the river), and in which, as a dog-lover, I took an intense interest. Their name for it was Jungho (pronounced Dyung-ho); the settlers,, unable to pronounce it as the blacks did, corrupted it into Dingo, and Dingo it will be now for all rime, lust as their name for an old-man marsupial (Kaowalgon) was corrupted into Kangaroo and the most wonderful weapon in the world, bumerin into boomerang!

As the aboriginal before being spoilt by contact with the white man, so die Dingo in his wild state was a fearless, indomitable rover and hunter; and as such I had special opportunities of studying him in that wild district, which is for the most part as uncivilised now as it was three thousand years ago,

The more I saw of these wild Red Dogs the more interested I became in them; and from getting to know all about their habits, I went on to the puzzle of their origin as the only non-marsupial carnivora in Australia. I investigated all the different theories of their origin; and, as a result, I have no hesitation in saying, after a life study of the genus canida, tame and wild, that I believe the Australian Dingo is the primal Dog of the world, and is derived from the marsupial Lion through the Tasmanian Tiger or Wolf: that it is the original of all the Dogs, Foxes and Wolves; and that the felinœ or Cats spring from the same source.

(There is nothing in the theory that the Dog sprang from the Bear; a different creature altogether)

The most general theory as to the Dog’s appearance in Australia is that he came from the Norths with savages; but this theory is untenable, because we know that Man has only existed on the earth during the Quaternary Period—about 500,000 years; and we know that the Dingo existed in Australia, bone for bone and tooth for tooth, in the adult and infant size, in the preceding period (Pliocene Tertiary—3,000,000 years), Therefore he existed here long before Man was on the earth; which effectually disposes of the imported-by-man theory.

THE PRIMAL DOG

A typical Australian Red Dog or Dingo, photographed at the Taronga Park Zoo, Sydney N.S.W.

The proof of this can be found in Professor Sir Frederick McCoy’s famous book, The Palœontology of Victoria, Tertiary Mammalia, pages 7, 8 and 9 (printed in 1881). This distinguished English scientist says:

The announcement, many years ago, of my recognition of the bones and teeth of the Dingo in the Pliocene Tertiary Strata of Colae and other Victorian localities, in company with similarly mineralised remains of Thylacoleo, Diprotodon Arhotheriurn and other extinct genera, therefore excited great interest, as proving that the Dingo was really one of the most ancient of the indigenous mammals of the country, and abounded as now most probably long before Man himself appeared. The Dingo, in fact, as Bell (History of British Quadrupeds) remarks, is an example of a Dog more removed from all the influence of domestication than any other; and the above-mentioned discovery of its’ remains in strata, with so many extinct genera, establishes it as by far the most ancient of any of the leading species of Dogs.

Our present species, though still living in great numbers, I have no doubt, dates from the Pliocene-Tertiary time; and I find, on the most minute comparison of measurements, no difference between the fossil and recent individuals, either of the adult age or of the younger periods, before the milk-teeth were shed to give place to the permanent pre-molar teeth.

This view that the Canis Dingo is a truly indigenous and peculiarly Australian species and not any variety of the domestic Dog is also confirmed by the great English zoologist, Professor Huxley (Proceedings, Zoological Society, London, April 6. 1880).

Other fossil Dingo remains have been found here, also in Tertiary strata; all this proving beyond question that the Dingo, in its present form, existed in the Tertiary period, contemporary with the Marsupial Lion (Thylacoleo), the Marsupial Wolf (Thylacineo), the Marsupial Rhinoceros, the giant Wombat and other extinct monsters, in the same size, and with the same habits,, as it is to-day.

This is proved by its skeleton, especially its teeth. With it existed the little Tasmanian Devil, bone for bone and tooth for tooth, as it is to-day. Sir Frederick McCoy says about it further on in his book (p. 12) :

It is a very curious circumstance that I find the skull and teeth of the Tasmanian Devil (Sarcophilus ursinus) very common in the most recent Tertiary days, and in the various Ossiperous caves of Victoria; perfectly identical in all respects on the most careful comparison with the corresponding parts of the individuals now living in Tasmania, whilst, there is not a trace of the species now living or evidence of its having existed In the continent during the modern period.

It is still common in Tasmania, although much persecuted; and how and why it became extinct in the much more extended mainland on which It abounded in the Pleistocene period is quite inexplicable at present

TASMANIAN DEVIL

(Sarcophilus ursinus) For its size, this is the most ferocious of all animals.

The question of foreign origin being settled, the next question is "How did the Dingo originate, and when and where? The answer given in my first statement is, I believe the correct one; to wit, that he originated from the marsupial Lion, through the Wolf or Tiger," and that from these sprang the two branches of the carnivora—the Dogs and Cats.

To show how this was done, we must go back to the beginning. We know that in the early period of the earth’s formation the first life began in the sea; that the air round the earth gradually became less heavily charged with carbonic acid gas, thus allowing the life in the sea gradually to adapt itself to the land; and, as the carbonic acid gas lessened more and more, absorbed by the vegetation which grew on the land, so that the sun could shine through it and warm the land, the creatures from the sea became more and more warm-blooded (getting more and more oxygen) and began to develop into land species.

The first were vegetarians, living on the tremendous growth caused by the excess of heat, moisture and carbonic acid gas, but gradually a carnivorous type was evolved. As a rule, all carnivora run in two types—the larger one, to overcome the prey; and the scavenger, or jackal, to pick the bones and act as watchdog. In Australia the two seem to have combined into one—the marsupial Lion. From a careful study of his fossil remains, it seems evident that he was a short, squat, powerfully built animal, with a head like the modern Bulldog or Mastiff (a throwback to him); and with only two back teeth, the main ones shaped like half-moons and running the full length of the back portion of the jaw; their curved, razor-like edges being specially adapted to cutting through the thick hide and blubber of the prehistoric monsters on which he fed.

THE MARSUPIAL LION

(Thylacoleo carnifex). This picture shows the head, jaws, and the terrible crescent teeth. The shape of the head is similar to that of a mastiff.

As the animals he fed on became a truer type of mammal, and consequently thinner skinned and more active, those of his species which did not improve with the improvement of the prey into the better type (the marsupial Tiger or Wolf) had to die out; being too slow and clumsy to catch it.

A few would change partly to vegetarian diet in a desperate effort to survive; with the result that they would shrink in size and their back teeth became suitable for grinding woody fibre and the small creatures they could catch. These would develop into the branch known as the Tasniaman Devil (Sarcophilus ursinus) and ultimately, I believe, into the Bear,

But the marsupial Tiger or Wolf had three disadvantages in the struggle for survival of the fittest. The first was its slouching build (semi-plantigrade), which forbade it running down its prey in the open or springing on it from cover. The second disadvantage was that, being marsupial, the female had to carry her young a long time about with her, which spoilt her hunting whilst doing so. The third disadvantage was that its skull had little or no room for mental development—to increase with the intelligence of the animals it hunted. These were becoming more and more intelligent as the air they breathed became clearer and the sunlight stronger— cooking or elaborating the dormant iron in their blood.

Therefore, as must always happen in nature, a few of the species being endowed by her with better capacity for improvement than others, and with the instinct to use it, two branches were created from this Wolf or Tiger main stock. The first was the primary Cat or creeper, which frequented the jungles and sprang on its prey—needing, therefore, a supple, lithe body, powerful muscles and big hooked claws for holding its quarry till it could get its tusks into play and disable it. These tusks were a long pair in the upper and lower jaw; the lower ones just missing the upper ones, as they are in the Cat tribe to-day. Its intelligence was very feeble (and still is) compared with the other branch (the primal Dog), owing to its hunting in the dark, and thus feeling the lack of sunlight to develop its brains.

The other branch, the primal Dog or runner, would frequent the open country and run its prey down. It needed for this a strong compact body, tireless muscles and powerful jaws and teeth, to disable its prey when it came up with it. As a matter of necessity it would become non-marsupial, because of having to run long distances without encumbrance. Its tusks, to make up for the lack of claws (impossible in a runner, toes for warning the feet taking their place), consisted, and still do, of a single pair in the bottom jaw and a double pair in the top, the bottom tusk on each side fitting into due two upper ones. By this means the Dog or runner could hold its prey when it came tip with it and disable it at the same time, either by tearing out bodily the piece its jaws enclosed or by hanging on till its weight pulled the quarry down,

THE TASMANIAN TIGER

or Wolf (marsupial). Note the kangaroo-like tail; also the black stripes, which are the origin of the brindle" markings in dogs and cats.

With the evolving of the two branches would arise an instinctive antipathy between them, because the Dog, often pursuing its quarry into the thickets, would alarm the other prey there and make it alert, so that the Cats would find it difficult to capture, and hence often have to go hungry on the Dog’s account. The Cats would retaliate by destroying the pups of the Dogs in their lairs when the parents were away hunting. Hence the feud.

Thus, I believe, the Dog and Cat species were evolved; first from the marsupial Lion, thence from the shambling Wolf or Tiger, the Cats remaining marsupial in Australia owing to food in the thickets and jungles being plentiful and comparatively small in size, the weaker creatures being forced there for shelter from the Dogs. The wild Dog, having the advantage of superior strength and fierceness (because it lived on the larger game, which obtained more nourishment in the open country), killed off the marsupial Lions and Tigers in Australia as also the little Devils, these being unable to take to the trees for safety, as the improved types did, and forced them down through the south-eastern corner and along the then land-bridge into Tasmania, where they still exist.

Why did not the dogs follow them into Tasmania and extirpate them there? For a very good and sufficient reason. There is a portion of the earth lying right round the globe in which the wild Dog flourishes and the Wolf is non-existent; it is the moderately warm to hot part of the world. Above this belt the wild Dog is never found, but the Wolf takes his place there,

The reason for this is very simple. The warm sunlight cooks or elaborates the iron in the blood of the animal, just as it does in man, or in the sap of a tree, The more the blood is elaborated, within reason, the greater the vitality and intelligence and the more the red color,

THE PRIMAL CATS

Australia’s only tree carnivora—The Tiger Cat and the little Native Cat; both marsupial.

The wild Dog, whether found in Australia, Africa, Asia or North or South America, is always red; and it is the strongest, bravest and most intelligent of the canida. The Wolf, on the other hand, owing to lack of sufficient sunlight, runs grey to black, is invariably cowardly, stupid and treacherous, and is also liable to hydrophobia, owing to his being unable to stand sudden and extreme heat, as is also the tame Dog in his latitudes. Hydrophobia is unknown to the red Dog, as it is used to heat, and tame Dogs bred and kept under his conditions are also immune to the disease, particularly in Australia, No Wolf has ever been permanently tamed, whereas tame Dingoes are common; our aboriginals have used them for hunting from time immemorial.

In Tasmania the heat is not sufficient for the red Dog to thrive in, so he perforce left it to the Tiger and Devil Hence their existence there, in their poor colors—dark brown and black respectively,

After the wild red Dog evolved in Australia, he spread out along the then land-bridge into Asia (in India he has been known as the Dhole from earliest history), and from thence along the land-bridges right round the globe, within his latitudes; but, as is only natural, die most perfect specimens are found where he originated—in Australia, The modem tame Dog is, in my opinion, simply the Australian Dingo, the primal Dog of the world, modified by artificial conditions and Man for his own use; unlike the Cat tribe, which still remains brainless and untamable wherever it is? owing mainly to its lack of sunlight because of night hunting.

It is curious that the old feud still remains between them; the Dogs still remember and attack any of the Cat tribe whenever possible. which in turn hate and fear them. (The wild red Dogs of Asia and Africa hunt the Lion and Tiger for pastime and invariably destroy them.)

This then is, in my opinion the origin of the modern Dog: from the Australian Dingo The illustrations show the different stages of his evolution from the squat, clumsy, slow, marsupial lines,

Chapter Two

VARIATIONS OF THE DOG SPECIES, AND THE REASONS FOR IT

After an experience of forty years in practical work and scientific research I find that the only successful way in breeding stock or raising crops is to go right back to the fountain-head, find out the original ancestor and trace the different species and varieties and the conditions under which they succeeded or failed, until I finally came to the particular branch I wanted and knew what variation of conditions made it successful so that I could give the same conditions again to obtain my object. It is a very tedious and slow process, but I have found it the only way for permanent results. One thereby has the key.

It is by this system that I have been so successful in breeding, judging and working our Kelpies and Cattle-dogs; and on my research farm of three hundred acres, near Liverpool, N.S.W. (which was practically barren, worn-out soil when I bought it in 1918), I have been able to grow small horses into large ones, get record prices for fat catde at Homebush sale-yards, greatly increase the yield of dairy cows and run from six to sixty merino sheep to the acre in two mobs—the first one of 1000 come-back merino ewes and the second one of 600 big aged merino wethers— when the previous owners could not run a bullock to twenty acres or a sheep to five acres. And all this at a trifling expense; in all about ten shillings per annum!

Following this out in the case of the Dog, I have in the previous chapter shown what I believe to be the correct original ancestor of Cants familiaris, and have traced his development up to the Dingo. In this chapter I trace the variations of the Dog genus, the reason for it from the Dingo and the result of it, up to the domesticated Dog of to-day, so that we know the right path to pursue in breeding and feeding our dogs to the best advantage and how to avoid mistakes in doing so.

HAMILTON SMITH

A good many years ago, burrowing in the Sydney Public Library for information about Dogs, I came across a very rare book which proved a mine of information on Wild Dogs, Foxes, Hyænas and Wolves. The author was Lieutenant-Colonel Hamilton Smith, and the book is probably the most comprehensive on its subject in the world, as far as wild canines are concerned, and is particularly valuable because, since it was published in 1840, the march of civilisation (including modern firearms and the penetration of tame Dogs) has doubtless destroyed or modified many of the types which he describes. In his day he was acknowledged as one of the leading authorities on his subject; and is even now mentioned in the latest great English Dog Book. In this chapter I shall quote him freely, regretting that for the present I cannot also show the admirable illustrations.

VARIATIONS OF THE DOG FAMILY

Opposite see the family-tree of the genus Canis, showing the origin of all the Dogs from the common ancestor and the variations of the same to our present wild and domestic Dogs, as I believe they were formed.

THE FAMILY TREE OF THE DOG, THE GAT AND THE BEAR