Fauna of Australia
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 The Red Kangaroo is the largest macropod and is one of Australia's heraldic animals, appearing with the Emu on the Coat of Arms of Australia. |
The fauna of Australia consists of a huge variety of animals; some 83% of mammals, 89% of reptiles, 90% of fish and insects and 93% of amphibians that inhabit the continent are endemic to Australia. This high level of endemism can be attributed to the continent's long geographic isolation, tectonic stability, and the effects of an unusual pattern of climate change on the soil and flora over geological time. A unique feature of Australia's fauna is the relative scarcity of native placental mammals. Consequently the marsupials—a group of mammals that raise their young in a pouch, including the macropods, possums and dasyuromorphs—occupy many of the ecological niches placental animals occupy elsewhere in the world. Australia is home to two of the 5 known extant species of monotremes and has numerous venomous species, which include the Platypus, spiders, scorpions, octopus, jellyfish, molluscs, stonefish, and stingrays. Uniquely, Australia has more venomous than non-venomous species of snakes.
- See also: Wikipedia
- Related: Threatened fauna of Australia
| Australian Biological Resources Study Australian Biological Resources Study www.deh.gov.au/biodiversity/abrs/ - Web |
| Australian Insect Common names Australian Insect Common names www.ento.csiro.au/aicn/ - Web |
| Australian Museum Australian Museum www.austmus.gov.au - Web |
Gallery for «Fauna of Australia»
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| Crustacean Gallery- Marine crustacean from southea... Crustacean Gallery- Marine crustacean from southeastern Australia museumvictoria.com.au/crust/page1.html - Web |
| The Reptile Database The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org - Web |
| University of Melbourne Australian Venom Research ... University of Melbourne Australian Venom Research Unit www.avru.org - Web |
| Fauna of Australia Fauna of Australia www.deh.gov.au/.../list.html#mammalia - Web |
