(Image: Photo by Charles Mountford 1940s. National Library of Australia)
Dr Melanie Fillios presents
Nature vs. nurture: Evaluating physical and genetic variability in dingoes against the human-dingo relationship
The status of the dingo (Canis dingo) as either a native species or invasive pest remains a high-profile debate. This is in part because the original relationship between dingoes and indigenous peoples remains enigmatic, with their introduction to Australia as a wild or domestic (and subsequently feral) species poorly understood. The impact of this debate features in whether they should be exterminated as an invasive pest or conserved as a native species and continues to thrive because of our poor understanding of the dingo’s origins, specifically over their initial status as a domesticate. Against this background there has been new research supporting regional variation in modern dingo populations, but with little understanding of the antiquity and/or causes of these differences. This talk explores the potential causes of this variability in the context of the human-dingo relationship. It juxtaposes traditional ethnographic and anthropological data with archaeological, morphological and biomolecular analyses to evaluate the driving forces behind the variability in modern dingo populations, specifically examining whether phenotypic and genotypic differences could result from several ancient introductions of distinct canine lineages to Australia, from dingoes’ relationship with people, or post-introduction environmental adaptation.
Melanie Fillios joined the archaeology discipline at UNE in 2015. Trained as an anthropologist and archaeologist, Melanie has an avid interest in the human-animal-environmental nexus and draws on the sciences and humanities to understand past human behavior. She has worked on a variety of projects including Indigenous contexts in the western United States, early human societies in Greece, Australian megafauna, foodways in Colonial Sydney and the human-dingo relationship in Australian prehistory.
*This on campus HASS seminar must adhere to COVID-19 safety measures. Invitees are requested not to attend if they have cold or flu symptoms or if they travelled from known COVID-19 locations in the previous fortnight or if they are a close contact of someone who has. Audience members need to maintain social distancing of 1.5 metres when arriving and departing and 4 metres space when seated. Please allow time to use sanitiser then sign the register on arrival at the venue. For those who cannot attend on campus the seminar is recorded. If you prefer to attend by Zoom please contact Karin von Strokirch for the link.
Enquiries to: Karin von Strokirch – kvonstro@une.edu.au