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Fauna of Australia

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: General Biology

   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.
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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 unique 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 that elsewhere in
   the world are filled by placental mammals. Australia is home to two of
   the five 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.

   The settlement of Australia by Indigenous Australians more than
   40,000 years ago, and by Europeans from 1788, has had a significant
   effect on the fauna. Hunting, the introduction of non-native species,
   and land-management practices involving the modification or destruction
   of habitats have led to numerous extinctions. Some examples include the
   Paradise Parrot, Pig-footed Bandicoot and the Broad-faced Potoroo.
   Unsustainable land use continues to threaten the survival of many
   species. In recognition of the threats to the survival of its fauna,
   Australia has passed wide-ranging federal and state legislation and
   established numerous protected areas. However, many people believe that
   these measures fail to address the imminent threats to the survival of
   many species.

Origins of Australian fauna

   Evidence suggests that Australia was a part of the supercontinent
   Gondwana(land).
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   Evidence suggests that Australia was a part of the supercontinent
   Gondwana(land).

   Both geologic and climatic events helped to make Australia's fauna
   unique. Australia was once part of the southern supercontinent
   Gondwana, which also included South America, Africa, India and
   Antarctica. Gondwana began to break up 140 million years ago (MYA); 50
   MYA Australia separated from Antarctica, and was relatively isolated
   until the collision of the Indo-Australian Plate with Asia in the
   Miocene era 5.3 MYA. The establishment and evolution of the present-day
   fauna was apparently shaped by the unique climate and the geology of
   the continent. As Australia drifted, it was, to some extent, isolated
   from the effects of global climate change. The unique fauna that
   originated in Gondwana, such as the marsupials, survived and adapted in
   Australia.

   After the Miocene, fauna of Asian origin were able to establish
   themselves in Australia. The Wallace Line—the hypothetical line
   separating the zoogeographical regions of Asia and Australasia—marks
   the tectonic boundary between the Eurasian and Indo-Australian plates.
   This continental boundary prevented the formation of land bridges and
   resulted in a distinct zoological distribution, with limited overlap,
   of most Asian and Australian fauna, with the exception of birds.
   Following the emergence of the circumpolar current in the mid-Oligocene
   era (some 15 MYA), the Australian climate became increasingly arid,
   giving rise to a diverse group of arid-specialised organisms, just as
   the wet tropical and seasonally wet areas gave rise to their own
   uniquely adapted species.

Mammals

   Australia has a rich mammalian fossil history, as well as a variety of
   extant mammalian species, dominated by the marsupials. The fossil
   record shows that monotremes have been present in Australia since the
   Early Cretaceous 145–99 MYA, and that marsupials and placental mammals
   date from the Eocene 56–34 MYA, when modern mammals first appeared in
   the fossil record. Although marsupials and placental mammals did
   coexist in Australia in the Eocene, only marsupials have survived to
   the present. The placental mammals made their reappearance in Australia
   in the Miocene , when Australia moved closer to Indonesia, and bats and
   rodents started to appear reliably in the fossil record. The marsupials
   evolved to fill specific ecological niches, and in many cases they are
   physically similar to the placental mammals in Eurasia and North
   America that occupy similar niches, a phenomenon known as convergent
   evolution. For example, the top predator in Australia, the Tasmanian
   Tiger, bore a striking resemblance to canids such as the Gray Wolf;
   gliding possums and flying squirrels have similar adaptations enabling
   their arboreal lifestyle; and the Numbat and anteaters are both digging
   insectivores.

Monotremes and marsupials

   Monotremes are mammals with a unique method of reproduction: they lay
   eggs instead of giving birth to live young. Two of the five known
   living species of monotreme occur in Australia: the Platypus and the
   Short-beaked Echidna. The Platypus — a venomous, egg-laying,
   duck-billed, amphibious mammal — is one of the strangest creatures in
   the animal kingdom. When a Platypus pelt was first presented by Joseph
   Banks to English naturalists in the late 1700s, they were convinced it
   must be a cleverly created hoax. Another strange monotreme is the
   Short-beaked Echidna; covered in hairy spikes, with a tubular snout in
   the place of a mouth, it has a tongue that can move in and out of the
   snout about 100 times a minute to capture termites.
   The Spotted Quoll is mainland Australia's largest carnivorous marsupial
   and an endangered species.
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   The Spotted Quoll is mainland Australia's largest carnivorous marsupial
   and an endangered species.

   Australia is also home to the world's largest and most diverse
   selection of marsupials, mammals with a pouch in which they rear their
   young. The marsupial carnivores — order Dasyuromorphia — are
   represented by two surviving families: the Dasyuridae with 51 members,
   and the Myrmecobiidae with the Numbat as its sole surviving member. The
   the Thylacine.
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   the Thylacine.

   Tasmanian Tiger was the largest Dasyuromorphia and the last living
   specimen of the family Thylacinidae; however, the last known specimen
   died in captivity in 1936. The world's largest surviving carnivorous
   marsupial is the Tasmanian Devil; it is the size of a small dog and can
   hunt, although it is mainly a scavenger. It became extinct on the
   mainland some 600 years ago, and is now found only in Tasmania. There
   are four species of quoll, or native cat, all of which are threatened
   species. The remainder of the Dasyuridae are referred to as 'marsupial
   mice'; most weigh less than 100 g. There are two species of Marsupial
   Mole — order Notoryctemorphia — that inhabit the deserts of Western
   Australia. These rare, blind, earless carnivores spend most of their
   time underground; little is known about them.
   The Common Brushtail Possum.
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   The Common Brushtail Possum.

   The marsupial omnivores include the bandicoots and bilbies, order
   Peramelemorphia. There are seven species in Australia, most of which
   are endangered. These small creatures share several characteristic
   physical features: a plump, arch-backed body with a long, delicately
   tapering snout, large upright ears, long, thin legs, and a thin tail.
   The evolutionary origin of this group is unclear, but they share
   characteristics from both carnivorous and herbivorous marsupials.
   The Koala does not normally need to drink, because it can obtain all of
   the moisture it needs by eating leaves.
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   The Koala does not normally need to drink, because it can obtain all of
   the moisture it needs by eating leaves.

   The marsupial herbivores are classified in the order Diprotodontia, and
   further into the suborders Vombatiformes, Phalangeriformes and
   Macropodiformes. The Vombatiformes include the Koala and the three
   species of wombat. One of Australia's best-known marsupials, the Koala
   is an arboreal (tree-dwelling) species that feeds on the leaves of some
   120 species of eucalyptus. Wombats, on the other hand, live on the
   ground and feed on grasses, sedges and roots. Wombats use their
   rodent-like front teeth and powerful claws to dig extensive burrow
   systems; they are mainly crepuscular and nocturnal.

   The Phalangeriformes includes possums and is a diverse group of
   arboreal marsupials, including six families and 26 species. They vary
   in size from the Little Pygmy Possum, weighing just 7 g, to the
   cat-sized Common Ringtail and Brushtail possums. The Sugar and Squirrel
   Gliders are common species of gliding possum, found in the eucalyptus
   forests of eastern Australia, while the Feathertail Glider is the
   smallest glider species. The gliding possums have membranes, called
   "patagiums," that extend from the fifth finger of their forelimb back
   to the first toe of their hind foot. These membranes, when
   outstretched, allow them to glide between trees.

   The Macropodiformes are divided into three families that are found in
   all Australian environments except alpine areas: the
   Hypsiprymnodontidae, with the Musky Rat-kangaroo as its only member;
   the Potoroidae, with 10 species; and the Macropodidae which had 53
   members in Australia but some species are extinct. The Potoroidae
   include the bettongs, potaroos and rat-kangaroos, small species that
   make nests and carry plant material with their tails. The Macropodiae
   include kangaroos, wallabies and associated species; size varies widely
   within this family. Most macropods move in a bipedal, energy-efficient
   hopping motion. They have powerfully muscled tails and large hind legs
   with long, narrow hind feet. The hind feet have a distinctive
   arrangement of four toes, while the short front legs have five separate
   digits. The Musky Rat-kangaroo is the smallest macropod and the only
   species that is not bipedal, while the male Red Kangaroo is the
   largest, reaching a height of about 2 m and weighing up to 85 kg.

Placental mammals

   The Dingo was the first placental mammal introduced to Australia by
   humans.
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   The Dingo was the first placental mammal introduced to Australia by
   humans.

   Australia has indigenous placental mammals from two orders: the bats,
   order Chiroptera, represented by six families, and the mice and rats,
   order Rodentia, family Muridae. Bats and rodents are relatively recent
   arrivals to Australia. Bats probably arrived from Asia, and they are
   present in the fossil record only from as recently as 15 MYA. Although
   7% of the world's bats species live in Australia, there are only two
   endemic genera of bats. Rodents first arrived in Australia 5–10 MYA and
   underwent a wide radiation to produce the species collectively known as
   the "old endemic" rodents. The old endemics are represented by 14
   extant genera. About a million years ago, the rat entered Australia
   from New Guinea and evolved into seven species of Rattus, collectively
   called the "new endemics."

   Since human settlement, many placental mammals have been introduced to
   Australia and are now feral. The first was the Dingo; fossil evidence
   suggests that people from the north brought the Dingo to Australia
   about 5000 years ago. When Europeans settled Australia they
   intentionally released many species into the wild, including the Red
   Fox, Brown Hare, and the European Rabbit. Other domestic species have
   escaped and over time have produced wild populations including the cat,
   Fallow Deer, Red Deer, Sambar Deer, Rusa Deer, Chital, Hog Deer,
   Domestic Horse, Donkey, Pig, Domestic Goat, Water Buffalo, Blackbuck
   and the Dromedary. Only three species of Australia's nonindigenous
   placental mammals were not deliberately introduced: the House Mouse,
   Black Rat and the Brown Rat.
   The Dugong is an endangered species; the largest remaining population
   is found in Australian waters.
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   The Dugong is an endangered species; the largest remaining population
   is found in Australian waters.

   Forty-six marine mammals from the order Cetacea are found in Australian
   coastal waters, but since many of these species have a global
   distribution, some authors do not consider them Australian species.
   There are nine species of baleen whale, including the enormous Humpback
   Whale. There are 37 species of toothed whale, which include all six
   genera of the family Ziphiidae ( Beaked whales), and 21 species of
   oceanic dolphin, including the Australian Snubfin Dolphin, a species
   first described in 2005. Some oceanic dolphins, such as the Orca, can
   be found in all waters around the continent; others, such as the
   Irrawaddy Dolphin, are confined to the warm northern waters. The Dugong
   (Order Sirenia) is an endangered marine species that inhabits the
   waters of northeastern and northwestern Australia, particularly the
   Torres Strait. It can grow up to 3 m long and weigh as much as 400 kg.
   The dugong is the only herbivorous marine mammal in Australia, feeding
   on sea grass in coastal areas. The destruction of sea grass beds is a
   threat to the survival of this species.

   Ten species of seals and sea-lions (superfamily Pinnipedia) live off
   the southern Australian coast and in Sub-Antarctic Australian
   territories.

Birds

   The Emu is the second largest surviving species of bird. It is a
   heraldic bird, appearing on the Coat of Arms of Australia.
   Enlarge
   The Emu is the second largest surviving species of bird. It is a
   heraldic bird, appearing on the Coat of Arms of Australia.

   Australia and its territories are home to over 800 species of bird;
   about 350 of these are endemic to the zoogeographic region that covers
   Australia, New Guinea and New Zealand. The fossil record of birds in
   Australia is patchy; however, there are records of the ancestors of
   contemporary species as early as the Late Oligocene. Birds with a
   Gondwanan history include the flightless ratites (the Emu and Southern
   Cassowary), megapodes (the Malleefowl and Australian Brush-turkey), and
   a huge group of endemic parrots, order Psittaciformes. Australian
   parrots comprise a sixth of the world’s parrots, including many
   cockatoos and galahs. The Kookaburra is the largest species of the
   kingfisher family, known for its call, which sounds uncannily like
   loud, echoing human laughter.

   The passerines of Australia, also known as songbirds or perching birds,
   include wrens, robins, the magpie group, thornbills, pardalotes, the
   huge honeyeater family, treecreepers, lyrebirds, birds of paradise and
   bowerbirds. The Satin Bowerbird is a fascinating bird that has
   attracted the interest of evolutionary psychologists: it has a complex
   courtship ritual in which the male creates a bower filled with blue,
   shiny items to woo mates.
   A female Gang-gang Cockatoo.
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   A female Gang-gang Cockatoo.

   Relatively recent colonists from Eurasia are swallows, larks, thrushes,
   cisticolas, sunbirds, and some raptors, including the large
   Wedge-tailed Eagle. A number of bird species have been introduced by
   humans; some, like the European Goldfinch and Greenfinch, coexist
   happily with Australian species, while others, such as the Common
   Starling, European Blackbird, House Sparrow and Indian Mynah, are
   destructive of some native bird species and thus destabilise the native
   ecosystem.

   About 200 species of seabird live on the Australian coast, including
   many species of migratory seabird. Australia is at the southern end of
   the East Asian-Australasian flyway for migratory water birds, which
   extends from Far-East Russia and Alaska through Southeast Asia to
   Australia and New Zealand. About two million birds travel this route to
   and from Australia each year. One very common large seabird is the
   Australian Pelican, which can be found in most waterways in Australia.
   The Little Penguin is the only species of Penguin that breeds on
   mainland Australia.

Amphibians and reptiles

   The Eastern Banjo Frog is a common frog species across eastern
   Australia.
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   The Eastern Banjo Frog is a common frog species across eastern
   Australia.

   Australia has four families of native frogs and one introduced toad,
   the Cane Toad. In 1935 the Cane Toad was introduced to Australia in a
   failed attempt to control pests in sugarcane crops. It has since become
   a devastating pest, spreading across northern Australia. As well as
   competing with native insectivores for food, the Cane Toad produces a
   venom that is toxic to native fauna, as well as to humans. The
   Myobatrachidae, or southern frogs, are Australia's largest group of
   frogs, with 120 species from 21 genera. A notable member of this group
   is the colourful and endangered Corroboree Frog. The tree frogs, from
   family Hylidae, are common in high rainfall areas on the north and east
   coasts; there are 77 Australian species from three genera. The 18
   species from two genera of the Microhylidae frogs are restricted to the
   rainforests; the smallest species, the Scanty Frog, is from this
   family. There is a single species from the world's dominant frog group,
   family Ranidae — the Australian Wood Frog — which only occurs in the
   Queensland rainforests. As elsewhere, there has been a precipitous
   decline in Australia's frog populations in recent years. Although the
   full reasons for the decline are uncertain, it can be at least partly
   attributed to the fatal amphibian fungal disease chytridiomycosis.
   The Saltwater Crocodile is the largest species of crocodile in the
   world.
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   The Saltwater Crocodile is the largest species of crocodile in the
   world.

   Australia has both saltwater and freshwater crocodiles. The Saltwater
   Crocodile, known colloquially as the "salty," is the largest living
   crocodile species; reaching up to 7 m and weighing up to 1000 kg, they
   can and do kill humans. They live on the coast and in the freshwater
   rivers and wetlands of northern Australia, and they are farmed for
   their meat and leather. Freshwater Crocodiles, found only in Northern
   Australia, are not considered dangerous to humans.

   The Australian coast is visited by six species of sea turtle: the
   Flatback, Green Sea, Hawksbill, Olive Ridley, Loggerhead and the
   Leatherback Sea Turtles; all are protected in Australian waters. There
   are 29 species of Australian freshwater turtles from eight genera of
   family Chelidae. The Australasian Pig-Nose Turtle is the only
   Australian member of that family. Australia and Antarctica are the only
   continents without any living species of land tortoise.
   Blue-tongued lizards are the largest species of skink.
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   Blue-tongued lizards are the largest species of skink.

   Australia is the only continent where venomous snakes outnumber their
   non-venomous cousins. Australian snakes belong to seven families. Of
   these, the most venomous species, including the Fierce Snake, Eastern
   Brown Snake, Taipan and Eastern Tiger Snake are from the family
   Elapidae. Of the 200 species of elapid, 86 are found only in Australia.
   Thirty-three sea snakes from family Hydrophiidae inhabit Australia's
   northern waters; many are extremely venomous. Two species of sea snake
   from the Acrochordidae also occur in Australian waters. Australia has
   only 11 species from the world's most significant snake family
   Colubridae; none are endemic, and they are considered to be relatively
   recent arrivals from Asia. There are 15 species of boa, and 31 species
   of insectivorous blind snake.
   There are 26 species of Goanna in Australia.
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   There are 26 species of Goanna in Australia.

   There are more lizards in Australia than anywhere else in the world,
   with representatives of five families. There are 114 species in 18
   genera of gecko found throughout the Australian continent. The
   Pygopodidae is a family of limbless lizards endemic to the Australian
   region; of the 34 species from eight genera, only one species does not
   occur in Australia. The Agamidae or Dragon lizards are represented by
   66 species in 13 genera, including the Thorny Devil, Bearded Dragon and
   Frill-necked Lizard. There are 26 species of monitor lizard, family
   Varanidae, in Australia, where they are commonly known as goannas. The
   largest Australian monitor is the Perentie, which can reach up to 2 m
   in length. There are 389 species of skink from 38 genera, comprising
   about 50% of the total Australian lizard fauna; this group includes the
   blue-tongued lizards.

Fish

   The Murray Cod is one of Australia's largest freshwater fish.
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   The Murray Cod is one of Australia's largest freshwater fish.

   More than 4400 species of fish inhabit Australia's waterways; of these,
   90% are endemic. However, due to the relative scarcity of freshwater
   waterways, Australia has only 170 species of freshwater fish. Two
   families of freshwater fish have ancient origins: the Arowana or "bony
   tongues," and the Queensland Lungfish. The Queensland Lungfish is the
   most primitive of the lungfish, having evolved before Australia
   separated from Gondwana. One of the smallest freshwater fish, peculiar
   to the south-west of Western Australia, is the Salamanderfish, which
   can survive desiccation in the dry season by burrowing into mud. Other
   families with a potentially Gondwanan origin include the Retropinnidae,
   Galaxiidae, Aplochitonidae and Percichthyidae. Apart from the ancient
   freshwater species, 70% of Australia's freshwater fish have affinities
   with tropical Indo-Pacific marine species that have adapted to
   freshwater. Nevertheless, fossil evidence indicates that many of these
   freshwater species are still ancient in origin. These species include
   freshwater lampreys, herrings, catfish, rainbowfish, and some 50
   species of gudgeon, including the Sleepy Cod. Native freshwater game
   fish include the Barramundi, Murray Cod, and Golden Perch. Two species
   of endangered freshwater shark are found in the Northern Territory.

   A number of exotic freshwater fish species, including Brown, Brook and
   Rainbow Trout, Atlantic and Chinook Salmon, Redfin Perch, Carp and
   Mosquitofish, have been introduced to Australian waterways. The
   Mosquitofish is a particularly aggressive species known for harassing
   and nipping the fins of other fish. It has been linked to declines and
   localised extinctions of a number of small native fish species. The
   introduced trout species have had serious negative impacts on a number
   of upland native fish species including Trout Cod, Macquarie perch and
   Galaxias species as well as other upland fauna such as the Spotted Tree
   Frog. The Carp is strongly implicated in the dramatic loss in
   waterweed, decline of small native fish species and permanently
   elevated levels of turbidity in the Murray-Darling Basin of southwest
   Australia.
   The Weedy Sea Dragon, a fish related to pipefish and seahorses, is
   found in the waters around southern Australia.
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   The Weedy Sea Dragon, a fish related to pipefish and seahorses, is
   found in the waters around southern Australia.

   Most of Australia's fish species are marine. Groups of interest include
   the Moray eels and squirrelfish, as well as the pipefish and seahorses,
   whose males incubate their partner's eggs in a specialised pouch. There
   are 80 species of grouper in Australian waters, including one of the
   world's biggest bony fish, the Giant Grouper, which can grow as large
   as 2.7 m and weigh up to 400 kg. The trevally, a group of 50 species of
   silver schooling fish, and the snappers are popular species for
   commercial fishing. The Great Barrier Reef supports a huge variety of
   small- and medium-sized reef fish, including the damselfish,
   butterflyfish, angelfish, gobies, cardinalfish, wrasse, triggerfish and
   surgeonfish. There are a number of venomous fish, among them several
   species of stonefish and pufferfish and the Red Lionfish, all of which
   have toxins that can kill humans. There are 11 venomous species of
   stingray, the largest of which is the Smooth Stingray. The barracudas
   are one of the reef's largest species. However, large reef fish should
   not be eaten for fear of ciguatera poisoning.
   The Spotted Wobbegong is the largest wobbegong shark, reaching a length
   of 3.2 m.
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   The Spotted Wobbegong is the largest wobbegong shark, reaching a length
   of 3.2 m.

   Sharks inhabit all the coastal waters and estuarine habitats of
   Australia’s coast. There are 166 species, including 30 species of
   requiem shark, 32 of catshark, six of wobbegong shark, and 40 of
   dogfish shark. There are three species from the family Heterodontidae:
   the Port Jackson shark, the Zebra Horn Shark and the Crested Horn
   Shark. In 2004, there were 12 unprovoked shark attacks in Australia, of
   which two were fatal. Only 3 species of shark pose a significant threat
   to humans: the Bull shark, the tiger shark and the Great White Shark.
   Some popular beaches in Queensland and New South Wales are protected by
   shark netting, a method that has reduced the population of both
   dangerous and harmless shark species through accidental entanglement.
   The overfishing of sharks has also significantly reduced shark numbers
   in Australian waters, and several species are now endangered. A
   megamouth shark was found on a Perth beach in 1988; very little is
   known about this species, but this discovery may indicate the presence
   of the species in Australian coastal waters.

Invertebrates

   Taxonomic group Estimated number of species described Estimated total
   number of species in Australia
   Porifera 1,416 ~3,500
   Cnidaria 1,270 ~1,760
   Platyhelminthes 1,506 ~10,800
   Acanthocephala 57 ~160
   Nematoda 2,060 30,000
   Mollusca 9,336 ~12,250
   Annelida 2,125 ~4,230
   Onychophora 56 ~56
   Crustacea 6,426 ~9,500
   Arachnida 5,666 ~27,960
   Insecta 58,532 ~83,860
   Echinodermata 1,206 ~1,400
   Other invertebrates 2,929 ~7,230
   Modified from: Williams et al. 2001.

   Of the estimated 200,000 animal species in Australia, about 96% are
   invertebrates. While the full extent of invertebrate diversity is
   uncertain, 90% of insects and molluscs are considered endemic.
   Invertebrates occupy many ecological niches and are important in all
   ecosystems as decomposers, pollinators, and food sources. The largest
   group of invertebrates is the insects, comprising 75% of Australia's
   known species of animals. The most diverse insect orders are the
   Coleoptera, with 28,200 species of beetles and weevils, the Lepidoptera
   with 20,816 species including butterflies and moths, and 12,781 species
   of Hymenoptera, including the ants, bees and wasps. Order Diptera,
   which includes the flies and mosquitoes, comprises 7,786 species, Order
   Hemiptera, including bugs, aphids and hoppers, comprises 5,650 species;
   and there are 2,827 species of order Orthoptera, including
   grasshoppers, crickets and katydids. Introduced species that pose a
   significant threat to native species include the European wasp, the red
   fire ant, the yellow crazy ant and feral honeybees which compete with
   native bees.
   There are 1,275 described species and subspecies of ant from Australia.
   These green ants (Oecophylla smaragdina) are found in tropical
   Australia and build nests in leaves.
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   There are 1,275 described species and subspecies of ant from Australia.
   These green ants ( Oecophylla smaragdina) are found in tropical
   Australia and build nests in leaves.

   Australia has a wide variety of arachnids, including 135 species of
   spider that are familiar enough to have common names. There are a
   number of highly venomous species, including the notorious Sydney
   Funnel-web and red-back spiders, whose bites can be deadly. There are
   thousands of species of mites and ticks from order Acarina. Australia
   also has eight species of pseudoscorpion and nine scorpion species.

   In the subclass Oligochaeta there are many families of aquatic worms,
   but only two families of native terrestrial worms: the Enchytraeidae,
   and the Megascolecidae. The latter includes the world's largest
   earthworm, the giant Gippsland earthworm, found only in Gippsland,
   Victoria. On average they reach 80 cm in length, but specimens up to
   3.7 m in length have been found.
   The wolf spider Lycosa godeffroyi is common in many areas of Australia.
   In this family of spiders, the female carries her egg-sac.
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   The wolf spider Lycosa godeffroyi is common in many areas of Australia.
   In this family of spiders, the female carries her egg-sac.

   The large family Parastacidae includes 124 species of Australian
   freshwater crayfish. These include the world's smallest crayfish, the
   swamp crayfish, which does not exceed 30 mm in length, and the world's
   largest crayfish, the Tasmanian giant freshwater crayfish, measuring up
   to 76 cm long and weighing 4.5 kg. The crayfish genus Cherax includes
   the common yabby, in addition to the farmed species marron and
   Queensland red claw. Species from the genus Engaeus, commonly known as
   the land crayfish, are also found in Australia. Engaeus species are not
   entirely aquatic, because they spend most of their lives living in
   burrows. Australia has seven species of freshwater crab from the genus
   Austrothelphusa. These crabs live burrowed into the banks of waterways
   and can plug their burrows, surviving through several years of drought.
   The extremely primitive freshwater mountain shrimp, found only in
   Tasmania, are a unique group, resembling species found in the fossil
   record from 200 MYA.
   A magnificent sea anemone on the Great Barrier Reef, with Clownfish.
   Enlarge
   A magnificent sea anemone on the Great Barrier Reef, with Clownfish.

   A huge variety of marine invertebrates are found in Australian waters,
   with the Great Barrier Reef an important source of this diversity.
   Families include the Porifera or sea sponges, the Cnidaria (includes
   the jellyfish, corals and sea anemones, comb jellies), the
   Echinodermata (includes the sea urchins, starfish, brittle stars, sea
   cucumbers, the lamp shells) and the Mollusca (includes snails, slugs,
   limpets, squid, octopus, cockles, oysters, clams, and chitons).
   Venomous invertebrates include the box jellyfish, the blue-ringed
   octopus, and ten species of cone snail, which can cause respiratory
   failure and death in humans. The Crown-of-Thorns starfish usually
   inhabits the Reef at low densities. However, under conditions that are
   not yet well understood, they can reproduce to reach an unsustainable
   population density when coral is devoured at a rate faster than it can
   regenerate. This presents a serious reef management issue. Other
   problematic marine invertebrates include the native species purple
   sea-urchin and the white urchin, which have been able to take over
   marine habitats and form urchin barrens due to the over harvesting of
   their natural predators which include abalone and rock lobster.
   Introduced invertebrate pests include the Asian mussel, New Zealand
   green-lipped mussel, black-striped mussel and the Northern Pacific
   seastar, all of which displace native shellfish.

   There are many unique marine crustaceans in Australian waters. The
   best-known class, to which all the edible species of crustacean belong,
   is Malacostraca. The warm waters of northern Australia are home to many
   species of decapod crustaceans, including crabs, false crabs, hermit
   crabs, lobsters, shrimps, and prawns. The Peracarids, including the
   amphipods and isopods, are more diverse in the colder waters of
   southern Australia. Less-well-known marine groups include the classes
   Remipedia, Cephalocarida, Branchiopoda, Maxillopoda (which includes the
   barnacles, copepods and fish lice), and the Ostracoda. Notable species
   include the Tasmanian giant crab, the second largest crab species in
   the world, found in deep water, and weighing up to 13 kg, and the
   Australian spiny lobsters, such as the Western rock lobster, which are
   distinct from other lobster species as they do not have claws.

Human impact and conservation

   For at least 40,000 years, Australia's fauna played an integral role in
   the traditional lifestyles of Indigenous Australians, who exploited
   many species as a source of food and skins, and for sport and pest
   control. Vertebrates commonly harvested included macropods, possums,
   seals, fish and the Short-tailed Shearwater, most commonly known as the
   Muttonbird. Invertebrates used as food included insects like the Bogong
   moth and larvae collectively called witchetty grubs and molluscs. The
   use of fire-stick farming, in which large swathes of bushland were
   burnt to facilitate hunting, modified both flora and fauna — including
   large herbivores with a specialised diet, such as the flightless birds
   from the genus Genyornis. The role of hunting and landscape
   modification by aboriginal people in the extinction of the Australian
   megafauna is debated.
   The Grey Nurse Shark is critically endangered on the Australian east
   coast.
   Enlarge
   The Grey Nurse Shark is critically endangered on the Australian east
   coast.

   The impact of Aborigines on native species populations is widely
   considered to be less significant than that of the European settlers,
   whose impact on the landscape has been on a relatively large scale.
   Since European settlement, direct exploitation of native fauna, habitat
   destruction and the introduction of exotic predators and competitive
   herbivores has led to the extinction of some 27 mammal, 23 bird and 4
   frog species. Much of Australia's fauna is protected by legislation; a
   notable exception is kangaroos, which are prolific and are regularly
   culled. The federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity
   Conservation Act 1999 was created to meet Australia's obligations as a
   signatory to the 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity. This act
   protects all native fauna and provides for the identification and
   protection of threatened species. In each state and territory, there is
   statutory listing of threatened species. At present, 380 animal species
   are classified as either endangered or threatened under the EPBC Act,
   and other species are protected under state and territory legislation.
   More broadly, a complete cataloguing of all the species within
   Australia has been undertaken, a key step in the conservation of
   Australian fauna and biodiversity. In 1973, the federal government
   established the Australian Biological Resources Study (ABRS), which
   coordinates research in the taxonomy, identification, classification
   and distribution of flora and fauna. The ABRS maintains free online
   databases cataloguing much of the described Australian flora and fauna.

   Australia is a member of the International Whaling Commission and is
   strongly opposed to commercial whaling—all Cetacean species are
   protected in Australian waters. Australia is also a signatory to the
   CITES agreement and prohibits the export of endangered species.
   Protected areas have been created in every state and territory to
   protect and preserve the country's unique ecosystems. These protected
   areas include national parks and other reserves, as well as 64 wetlands
   registered under the Ramsar Convention and 16 World Heritage Sites. As
   of 2002, 10.8% (774,619.51 km²) of the total land area of Australia is
   within protected areas. Protected marine zones have been created in
   many areas to preserve marine biodiversity; as of 2002, these areas
   cover about 7% (646,000 km²) of Australia's marine jurisdiction. The
   Great Barrier Reef is managed by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park
   Authority under specific federal and state legislation. Some of
   Australia's fisheries are already overexploited, and quotas have been
   set for the sustainable harvest of many marine species.

   The State of the Environment Report, 2001, prepared by independent
   researchers for the federal government, concluded that the condition of
   the environment and environmental management in Australia had worsened
   since the previous report in 1996. Of particular relevance to wildlife
   conservation, the report indicated that many processes—such as
   salinity, changing hydrological conditions, land clearing,
   fragmentation of ecosystems, poor management of the coastal
   environment, and invasive species—pose major problems for protecting
   Australia's biodiversity.

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