The corals of the Great Barrier Reef: illustrated
WEBJun 30, 2017 · All illustrations by Brittney Klein. Three-quarters of the world’s 798 coral species can be found on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, and they come in a huge variety of shapes, sizes and colours. There are more than 600 coral species in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, which covers 344,400sq.km of ocean. Corals are colonies of tiny polyps ...
A guide to Australia’s possums and gliders - Australian Geographic
WEBJul 25, 2019 · A guide to Australia’s possums and gliders. This is absolutely everything you need to know about all of Australia’s possums and gliders. In the black of night, Australia’s 27 species of possum and glider scamper across our roofs, dart along branches in secluded rainforests or peer tentatively from tiny hidey-holes.
Gympie-Gympie: Once stung, never forgotten - Australian …
WEBJun 16, 2009 · One of the world’s most venomous plants, the Gympie-Gympie stinging tree can cause months of excruciating pain for unsuspecting humans. Marina Hurley’s dedication to science was sorely tested during the three years she spent in Queensland’s Atherton Tableland studying stinging trees. The entomologist and …
Everything you need to know about snakes - Australian Geographic
WEBFeb 22, 2016 · Snakes have no eyelids. Snakes can eat animals who are 75–100 per cent larger than their own head. Before shedding, a snake’s eyes will become cloudy/opaque. Endemic to Western Australia’s Pilbara region, the Anthill python (Antaresia perthensis) is the smallest python species in the world.
A guide to Australia’s penguins - Australian Geographic
WEBApr 26, 2018 · A little penguin (Eudyptula minor).Image credit: shutterstock Only a tad bigger than a bowling pin, little penguins (sometimes called fairy penguins) are the smallest penguin species in the world. These petite paddlers make their homes along the coast of southern Australia, with colonies located on Montague Island and Sydney’s Manly Beach in NSW, the St Kilda breakwater in Melbourne ...
Where did the drop bear myth come from? - Australian Geographic
WEBImage credit: Australian Museum. While these novel actions to prevent an attack have been well-publicised, the actual origins of the drop bear myth aren’t quite as well-known. That’s because, like any good legend, its beginnings are clouded in the mists of time. What we do know is that the term ‘drop bear’ didn’t appear in newspapers ...
More than 200 Australian birds are now threatened with extinction
WEBJan 6, 2020 · The Mukarrthippi grasswren is now Australia’s most threatened bird, down to as few as two or three pairs. But 23 Australian birds became less threatened over the past decade, showing conservation actions can work. The findings are contained in a new action plan released today. Last released in 2011, the action plan examines the extinction risk facing the almost 1,300 birds in Australia and ...
Australia, land of pythons - Australian Geographic
WEBFeb 19, 2018 · With 14 species, Australia has close to half the world’s total of 31. CELEBRATED AS THE land of parrots, Australia is more obviously a paradise for pythons, with a far larger share of the global total. South America outdoes Australia for parrots, but no continent comes close for pythons. My city of Brisbane abounds in …
The little-known story of Australia’s convict women
WEBJun 4, 2018 · It’s estimated that 164,000 convicts were shipped to Australia between 1788 and 1868 under the British government’s new Transportation Act — a humane alternative to the death penalty. Approximately 25,000 of these convicts were women, charged with petty crimes such as stealing bread. “Half the women landed in mainland Australia and half ...
Top 10 ingenious Aussie animal adaptations - Australian Geographic
WEBFeb 4, 2016 · Here are 10 amazing Australian animal adaptions: 1. Fins that create tiny whirlpools. A humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae). Image credit: shutterstock. Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) have notches on the very front of their fins that act as little gutters that create small whirlpools against the sides of the fins.
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