Adventure Ausrama Blog

The first singing birds originated in Australia - science. Singing birds originated in Australia. This is true. Just when they moved to other parts of the world is not yet clearly known. Evidence from DNA sequencing and fossils point to this happening approximately 23 million years ago. They first "hopped" from island to island until they reached Indonesia. From there it was easy for them to spread to Asia. The progression to populate the world occurred rapidly, like when humans moved out of Africa.  It took only a few thousand years for the initial "breakout". Birds of song could not leave Australia before 23 million years ago as Indonesia before that time was a small island and there was a huge distance of ocean for the birds to cross to reach other land masses. Half of all bird species are song birds. The only continent where they did not go is Antarctica. This is a mystery because penguins are birds, so the cold barrier is not significant for birds.  Man...

Anthropologists say the Hobbit of Flores did exist. The naysayers have had to accept that the Hobbit discovered on the island of Flores in Indonesia did exist. They survived until about 15,000 years ago. Anthropologists should have taken notice of local folklore. Stories were handed down to the present about tiny "people" raiding food crops at night. Remains have been closely examined by scientists. It was a tiny version of Australopithecus a human predecessor which lived in Africa from 4.5 million to 2 million years ago. The creature grew to small stature because it was trapped on an island. Short legs made it hard for them to walk but they did nonetheless - large trees do not grow on Flores. Despite having a small brain Homo floresiensis  developed stone tools to a complexity equalled only by humans. Its teeth were closer to human teeth than any other ape-like pre-human. This accounts for its naming as homo rather than Australopithecus . The real mystery ...

The "miniature" humans on the island of Flores in Indonesia have had extensive tests performed on them. Their remains have been examined in detail.  While their brain was as small as an orange it was large enough for them to develop many skills. At a third of the weight of modern-day people it was in proportion. The world of the "Hobbit", Homo floresiensis, was composed of pygmy animals, so it was a natural environment for them. They would not have perceived themselves to be small. This sub-species developed from one of the first branches of humans that walked upright, going back two million years. Their direct forebear, Homo erectus, was larger than modern humans. It roamed over a large part of Asia. Isolation on a small island led to dwarfism occurring. All mammals progress this way when trapped in a limited domain, though reptiles get larger. It was doubtful that they hunted the much bigger reptiles. If their environment was more challenging they woul...

It was believed that Australia's dingo dog arrived here via Southeast Asian or Chinese seafarers. Then an overland journey was proposed through Taiwan and the Philippines. Genetic evidence now shows that they originated in South China and got to Australia by way of Indonesia. How they crossed the ocean is still a mystery. The oldest evidence for the presence of the dingo in Australia is 3,500. This is a long time after the ice age and sea levels were about the same then as they are today. The dingo is really an ordinary dog. It "split" from the pre-modern domestic dog 5,000 years ago. This older domestic dog spread out from South China 16,000 years ago. The dingo is closely related to the New Guinea singing dog. Genetic evidence shows that these two variants moved into Southeast Asia before ordinary domestic dogs accompanied humans as far as Polynesia 3,000 years ago. Whether dingoes travelled with humans is not clear. Dingos have a different genetic mutatio...

There is an answer to the refugee problem. A the moment the Australian Federal Government is in talks with the Sri Lankan Government. Hopefully, some bright spark will have the courage to stand up and say it: Australian ships should take them back home and let them apply for refugee status through the usual means, if the country of origin agrees. And indeed there should be pressure to make them agree. There is a long queue to attain citizenship status. Boat people should be patient. In countries such as Afghanistan and Iraq, perhaps people fear going home, but these countries should take them back and give them protection. This may be simplistic. Nonetheless, it is the only answer when people are leaving to gain a better life and not running from oppression. The Tamils are clearly not running from oppression. The war is over. They should not be allowed to demand Australian citizenship and win. If they do win, we can expect all boat people from now on to refuse to get off ships taken to...