Hendra virus (HeV ) is a lethal paramyxovirus which emerged in humans in 1994. Poor understanding of HeV dynamics in Pteropus spp. (flying fox or fruit bat) reservoir hosts has limited our ability to determine factors driving its emergence. We initiated a longitudinal field study of HeV in little red flying foxes (LRFF; Pteropus scapulatus) and examined individual and population risk factors for infection, to determine probable modes of intraspecific transmission. We also investigated whether seasonal changes in host behaviour, physiology and demography affect host-pathogen dynamics. Data showed that pregnant and lactating females had significantly higher risk of infection, which may explain previously observed temporal associations between HeV outbreaks and flying fox birthing periods. Age-specific seroprevalence curves generated from field data imply that HeV is transmitted horizontally via faeces, urine or saliva. Rapidly declining seroprevalence between two field seasons suggests that immunity wanes faster in LRFF than in other flying fox species, and highlights the potentially critical role of this species in interspecific viral persistence. The highest seroprevalence was observed when animals showed evidence of nutritional stress, suggesting that environmental processes that alter flying fox food sources, such as habitat loss and climate change, may increase HeV infection and transmission. These insights into the ecology of HeV in flying fox populations suggest causal links between anthropogenic environmental change and HeV emergence.

Hendra virus (HeV) causes highly lethal disease in horses and humans in the eastern Australian states of Queensland (QLD) and New South Wales (NSW), with multiple equine cases now reported on an annual basis. Infection and excretion dynamics in pteropid bats (flying-foxes), the recognised natural reservoir, are incompletely understood. We sought to identify key spatial and temporal factors associated with excretion in flying-foxes over a 2300 km latitudinal gradient from northern QLD to southern NSW which encompassed all known equine case locations. The aim was to strengthen knowledge of Hendra virus ecology in flying-foxes to improve spillover risk prediction and exposure risk mitigation strategies, and thus better protect horses and humans. Monthly pooled urine samples were collected from under roosting flying-foxes over a three-year period and screened for HeV RNA by quantitative RT-PCR. A generalised linear model was employed to investigate spatiotemporal associations with HeV detection in 13,968 samples from 27 roosts. There was a non-linear relationship between mean HeV excretion prevalence and five latitudinal regions, with excretion moderate in northern and central QLD, highest in southern QLD/northern NSW, moderate in central NSW, and negligible in southern NSW. Highest HeV positivity occurred where black or spectacled flying-foxes were present; nil or very low positivity rates occurred in exclusive grey-headed flying-fox roosts. Similarly, little red flying-foxes are evidently not a significant source of virus, as their periodic extreme increase in numbers at some roosts was not associated with any concurrent increase in HeV detection. There was a consistent, strong winter seasonality to excretion in the southern QLD/northern NSW and central NSW regions. This new information allows risk management strategies to be refined and targeted, mindful of the potential for spatial risk profiles to shift over time with changes in flying-fox species distribution.

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Abstract. The Australian Museum (AM) Mammal Collection represents one of the most significant world collections from the Australo-Pacific region, with over 50,000 mammal specimens of some 650 species from the region. The Collection contains about 882 primary (name bearing) and secondary mammal type specimens, representing 210 proposed names (species and subspecies), 124 of which are currently recognized as valid taxa. All are of taxa originating from the Australian region, Indonesia, Melanesia and the south-west Pacific. The 205 primary type specimens comprise 145 holotype specimens (on which 149 names are based), seven lectotypes, two neotypes; 33 syntypes of 18 taxa; and 18 specimens suspected to be syntypes of 11 taxa. Primary type material of the 185 named taxa represent 4 monotremes, 62 marsupials, 2 canids, 9 cetaceans, 68 rodents and 40 bats. The 677 secondary type specimens comprise 659 paratypes, 15 paralectotypes, and three suspected paralectotypes. This is the first published list of non-fossil mammal types in the AM Collection since the publication of Krefft's catalogue in 1864. Individual accounts are presented discussing type status of 233 taxa by their originally proposed names, which includes taxa for which the type series has not been located since publication of the name. Registration data are given, with additional information not included in the published description, along with new information on many taxa proposed in the 19th century. Photographs of the primary type specimens of 43 taxa are provided, many of which are the first published images. New insights and a summary of current information is given for 14 taxa for which type material has not been located in world collections but we believe might have originally been lodged in the AM.Type material of seven taxa named by Krefft, Gray and Ramsay (all suspected junior synonyms), were identified in the AM Collection and are reported here for the first time since their original publication. The type series of many taxa proposed by Krefft and Ramsay are not fully defined and syntypes could remain unrecognized in the many institutions to which they extensively exchanged specimens during the 19th century. No nomenclatural actions are taken in this paper. *