An enquirer to the Hancock Museum recently raised the question whether
the Hancock Museum's Wombat (which arrived in Newcastle in 1799) is the
earliest surviving specimen of an Australian mammal. My initial thought
was that there would be a few mammal specimens surviving from the
Endeavour voyage - but on reflection I can't remember seeing references
to them.
I know that the Platypus used by George Shaw in describing Platypus
anatinus arrived in Britain a little before our Wombat, but the last I
know of it was in 1802 when it was in the collection of a Dr Buchan in
London (the whereabouts being recorded by James Anderson in volume 6 of
his Recreations in Agriculture).
Any other suggestions?
Les Jessop
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