Australia’s long isolation from other continents has helped evolution to create some of the most unique creatures in the world. No other continent has got mammals that lay eggs, carry their young in the pouch and don’t walk, but jump across the countryside. If you like animals, Australia won’t disappoint you. Here are some photos and some information on kangaroos, koalas and many other Australian animals.
Unique Australian Animals - Monotremes First, there are the monotreme animals - the only two mammals in the world that lay eggs. There is one species of monotremes in Papua New Guinea, but Australian monotremes are the shy platypus with a duck-like bill, which lives in freshwater streams and lakes; and echidna, which looks like a large hedgehog. Platypus is found along the eastern coast of Australia, while echidna is one of the very few species that has adapted to every habitat in Australia, from snowy mountains to deserts and tropical rainforests.
Unique Australian Animals: Marsupial Animals The second group of Australian mammals are marsupial animals – so classified because they carry their young in the pouch (although there are a few exceptions). And Australia has got a huge variety of marsupial animals. They are not all large animals like kangaroos: there are the small quolls and dunnarts, numbats and Tasmanian Devils. Then there are bandicoots and bilbies, koalas and wombats; gliders and possums. Macropods come in many different shapes and sizes, from small rat- and tree kangaroos to quokkas, pademelons, wallabies, rock wallabies and wallaroos; and the famous kangaroos. And finally, there is the marsupial mole, developed totally separately but so amazingly similarly to Northern Hemisphere’s black mole – with the only differences that it has a pouch, and that it is not black but red – an adaptation to Australia’s red soils.
Unique Australian Animals: Placental Mammals Australia does have placental mammals, i. e. animals that give birth to a young that is developed enough to not to need a pouch (the animals we in Northern Hemisphere are used to, and that of course includes us humans ourselves). But, Australia wasn’t originally a land of placentals so its only native placentals have arrived either water- or airways and include bats, dugongs, whales and dolphins; and seals and sea lions. And then of course, there are the dingoes and other introduced animals such as foxes, rabbits, deer, buffalo, and feral cats, horses, donkeys, pigs, camels and goats, which are all placentals. Because these animals have no natural enemies in Australia’s ecosystem, they thrive well and kill or compete with native fauna. Australians now regret that these animals were ever introduced.
Unique Australian Animals - Birds Mammals are not the only interesting group of Australian animals. Australian birds also surprise with their appearance, behaviour and variety. First there are the flightless emu and cassowary Then there are the colourful and noisy parrots and cockatoos - you cannot miss them, you both see and hear them everywhere in Australia – from the streets of Sydney to the most remote deserts. Other colourful birds are kingfishers - the largest of which are the famous kookaburras; and there are many other beautiful forest birds such as wrens, robins, finches, flycatchers, fantails, wagtails, peewees, bowerbirds, honeyeaters and rainbow bee-eaters.
Unique Australian Birds During the night you can see many species of owls even in cities, but other birds of prey are easiest to see during the day and in the outback. Australia’s seabirds include albatrosses, gannetts, gulls, terns and noddies, and a group that are adapted to saltwater but like to spend time in freshwater and therefore inhabit coasts as well as the inland: pelicans, cormorants and darters. On the shores live penguins, and shorebirds such as oystercatchers, sandpipers, plovers and curlews, which are tied to tidal waters. In the wetlands and around freshwater waterholes there are ibises and spoonbills, herons and egrets, jabirus and brolgas. And then there are the waterfowl, like – swans, only in Australia swans are black.
Unique Australian Animals - Crocodiles and Snakes Now you’d think that’s good enough but there are more fascinating Australian animals. Australian reptiles are a group not-to-be-forgotten because it includes the dangerous Australian snakes and crocodiles. Other Australian reptiles include turtles, geckos, lizards, skinks, dragons, monitors and goannas.
Unique Australian Animals: Frogs, Insects and Spiders Amphibians is also an interesting group of Australian animals, which includes Australia’s native frogs, and the introduced cane toad, which turned into a nasty pest and kills native wildlife. Then there is the fascinating group of Australian spiders, and insects (insects are not spiders because insects have six legs and spiders have eight). Some of the most famous insects in Australia are the large Cairns Birdwing and Ulysses butterflies.
Unique Australian Animals - Water Creatures And let’s not forget that there is life in the water – Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest coral reef, which contains 1500 species of coral reef fish, 4000 types of clams and snails, and countless other marine species. Great Barrier Reef is not the only coral reef in Australia - there are other smaller ones such as Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia, which is known for its large marine animals such as manta rays and whale sharks, but there is also the usual array of small coral reef fish, sea stars, sea cucumbers, sea shells, and as elsewhere - some dangerous animals such as sharks and jellyfish. Australian animals are one of the most interestng things about Australia and there are plenty of them - you can spend a lot of time watching wildlife in Australia.
NOTE: This website is written in British English, which is the English we use in Australia. You will find words like "traveller", "harbour" and "realise", and they are all correct in the language used in Australia.
