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Australia Animal Life
Australia wildlife is much more than kangaroos, koalas and dingos. Ask questions here about the animals that call Australia home.
403 Questions
How do Mulgara adapt to their environment?
The mulgara is a small carnivorous marsupial from the deserts of central and Western Australia. It has several adaptations that enable it to survive in the desert. * The mulgara needs no water apart from that which it obtains from its prey. * To shelter from the heat of the day, mulgara dig burrows in the desert sand. They are nocturnal, so they only come out at night, when it is cooler. * Mulgara have sand coloured fur, so they are camouflaged from predators. * They are social creatures, often digging burrows near each other, so they do not have to search far for a mate.
What are 3 unique Australian animals?
One of the strangest animals in the world is the Australian Platypus, A monotreme that is it is a mammal that lays eggs suckles its young has the bill of a bird an electronic guidance system for murky water and even sports a poisonous spur to ward of predators
No, true anteaters do not lay eggs. They are placental mammals, and give birth to live young. They are not monotremes, which are egg-laying mammals.
True anteaters should not be confused with "Spiny anteaters", more properly known as echidnas. These creatures are monotremes, meaning that they are egg-laying mammals, like platypuses.
Why did Australian animals develop differently from other animals?
Australia and New Zealand have been geographically isolated for a very long time. When they broke away from the rest of the continents, the gene pool of the animals and plants in Australia and New Zealand were isolated from the organisms of the mainland. Therefore, these creatures evolved down a different path. Changes in the gene pools in Australia had no effect on the organisms on the mainland and vice versa, so the changes in Australia were completely different.
Are there wolves in Australia?
A gray wolf pack was spotted in Northern California for the first time in decades. This is a sign for a comeback for the wolf in California. A remote camera captured 2 adults and 5 five pups in Northern California. These were the first in the state since 1924.
The dibbler is a small, carnivorous marsupial found only in Australia. It is restricted to old-growth mallee heath in the coastal areas of southwestern Western Australia.
What Australian animals start with the letter A?
- dingo
- dugong
- Dusky antechinus
- Diamond dove
- Diamond firetail
- dollarbird
- Dusky moorhen
- Dusky woodswallow
- Diamond python
- Death adder
What animal is on the Australian nickel?
Australia does not have nickels. Its currency is dollars and cents.
However, the closest equivalent to the American nickel is the 5c piece, and on this coin is the echidna.
What were the thylacine's characteristics?
The Thylacine was a carnivorous marsupial, or dasyurid. It fed on native animals such as wallabies, wombats, possums, birds and other prey smaller than itself.
The Thylacine sometimes scavenged for food, and was known to feed on the carcasses of rabbits and wallabies.
How big do thylacines grow to?
The Thylacine, sometimes known as the Tasmanian tiger, is now extinct. It was a carnivorous marsupial, or dasyurid, native to Australia. It had an unusually large gape, and was able to open its mouth up to 120 degrees.
What factors led to the thylacine becoming extinct?
The last one died in 1936. They became extinct because of competition for food with the Dingo.
Correction:
The Thylacine only competed with the dingo for food on the mainland of Australia, and even this theory is now being doubted by scientists. The dingo has never reached Tasmania, so was no threat to the Thylacine there.
The Thylacine, also known as the Tasmanian Tiger (though not related to tigers at all) became extinct because the European settlers saw it as a threat to their livestock and petitioned for a bounty to be placed on it. This enabled them to freely hunt the animal, leading directly to its extinction.
You'll need to refer to the two related links below which will provide both information and photographs regarding this interesting insect .
Where is the Perentie found in Australia?
The perentie, a large goanna, is found in the arid and semi-arid desert and spinifex country within Western Australia, South Australia, the Northern Territory and Queensland.
A distribution map can be found at the related link below.
What are the state flora and fauna of Australia?
Australia has a national floral emblem, but not a national fauna emblem. Its national floral emblem is the golden wattle. Surprisingly, the kangaroo and emu, which both feature on the Australian coat-of-arms, are not officially considered to be Australia's national emblems. There are no "national" faunal emblems.
Each of the states and territories in Australia has its own flora and fauna emblems.
The floral emblem of New South Wales is the Waratah(Telopea speciosissima). The faunal emblems are the Platypus, and the avian emblem is the Kookaburra. The fish emblem is the Blue groper.
The floral emblem for Victoria is the Common Heath(Epacris impressa), sometimes referred to as Pink Heath. The faunal emblems are Leadbeaters Possum (animal) and the Helmeted Honeyeater (bird).
The floral emblem is the Tasmanian Blue Gum(Eucalyptus globulus). Tasmania does not have an official faunal emblem, but its unofficial animal emblems are the Tasmanian Devil and the Yellow Wattlebird.
The floral emblem for Queensland is the Cooktown Orchid(Vappodes phalaenopsis). The faunal emblems are the Koala and the Brolga. The aquatic emblem is the Barrier Reef Anemone Fish.
The floral emblem for Western Australia is the Red and Green Kangaroo Paw (Anigozanthus manglessii), while its faunal emblems are the Numbat and the Black swan.
The floral emblem of South Australia is Sturt's Desert Pea, (Swainsona formosa). The faunal emblems of South Australia are the Hairy nosed wombat for the animal, the Piping shrike for the bird emblem, and the Leafy sea dragon for the marine emblem.
The floral emblem of the Northern Territory is Sturt's Desert Rose (Gossypium sturtianum). The faunal emblem of the Northern Territory is the Red Kangaroo, and the bird is the Wedge Tailed Eagle.
The floral emblem of the Australia Capital territory is the Royal Bluebell (Wahlenbergia gloriosa) and they have just one animal emblem (or bird emblem) - the Gang Gang Cockatoo.
Are frangipanis Australian native?
No. Frangipanis are not native to Australia. They are native to Central America, Mexico and Venezuela.
There is a rainforest tree in Australia known as the native frangipani because of its strongly scented creamy yellow, frangipani-like flowers. However, it is not related to the exotic frangipani from Central America.
What kind of wild life lives in Australia's alpine area?
Animals that live on the actual slopes of the Alpine area include the Mountain Pygmy possum, the Native Bush rat, the Broad-toothed rat and Swainson's antechinus. Species which live on the lower slopes include the Mountain Brushtail possum, Common Brushtail possum, Ringtail possum, Eastern Pygmy possum, Common Wombat, Red-necked Wallaby, Swamp Wallaby and Eastern Grey Kangaroo. Nine bat species live in the high country, including Gould's Wattled Bat, the Lesser Long-eared Bat and the Chocolate Wattled Bat.
Some of the birds observed in the Alpine regions during summer include the Australian Kestrel, the Australian Pipit, the White-browed Scrub-wren, the Flame Robin, the Pied Currawong, the Grey Currawong and the Little Raven. Others are more common below the tree line, such as the Gang-gang Cockatoo, the Crimson Rosella, the Fan-tailed Cuckoo, the Grey Fantail, the Emu, the Superb Lyrebird and the Yellow-faced Honeyeater.
Does Australia have any shrews?
No, but the shrew Crocidura Maxi is found on Wokam Island, where marsupials also live.
What mammals are found in Australia?
Australia's most common native animals are marsupials. These are the pouched mammals (actually, not all marsupials are pouched) and include:
- some sixty species of kangaroo, including wallaroo, potoroo, pademelon, rufous rat-kangaroo and wallaby
- koala
- wombat
- possum (not opossum)
- glider
- potoroo
- bandicoot, including the bilby
- quokka
- quoll
- Tasmanian Devil
- phascogale
- dunnart
- cuscus
- bettong
- numbat (not a pouched marsupial, but a marsupial nonetheless)
- antechinus
There are many marine mammals, including dolphins, and the dugong, or sea-cow. The only placental mammals native to Australia are bats, of which there are over 80 species, and native hopping mice (rodents, not marsupials), of which there are several species. Dingoes are not truly native, not having originated here.
Monotremes (egg laying mammals) are also native to Australia. These include the platypus and the short-beaked echidna.
How did the brush tail rat kangaroo became extinct?
The Brush tailed rat-kangaroo, also known as the brush tailed bettong, or the woylie, is endangered for the same reasons that many of Australia's native species are endangered. Habitat destruction and changed fire regimes are largely responsible for the woylie's endangerment. Introduced species such as foxes and feral cats have drastically reduced woylie numbers, as has competition for food with introduced herbivores such as rabbits and livestock.
There are over 520 species of lizards in Australia.
They include various species of monitor lizard which are known as goannas, including the perentie; blue tongue lizard; bearded dragon; frill neck lizard; numerous skinks; stumpy tail lizaards; thorny devils; eastern water dragons; native and non-native geckoes; and legless lizards (which are quite different from snakes).
What are the species of Australian possum?
There are around 30 species of possums in Australia, and many more in New Guinea and Indonesia. Australian species include:
- Common Ringtail Possum (several species)
- Common Brushtail possum
- Northern Brushtail possum
- Mountain Brushtail possum
- Coppery Brushtail possum
- Short-eared possum
- Cuscus
- Scaly-tailed possum
- Mountain Pygmy possum
- Long-tailed Pygmy possum
- Southwestern Pygmy possum
- Tasmanian Pygmy possum
- Eastern Pygmy possum
- Honey possum
- Leadbeater's possum
- Striped possum
- Feather-tailed possum
- mahogany glider
- feathertail glider
- sugar glider
- lesser glider (also known as the yellow bellied glider)
- greater glider
- squirrel glider
