Most Fascinating Animals of Australia
- Thread starter okapikpr
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Twelve fantastic species that are found in that part of the planet: tuatara, tasmanian devil, platypus, echidna, tree kangaroo (in general, as there are about 10 recognized species), numbat, bilby, quoll, bettong, potoroo, spotted cuscus and wombat. That doesn't even include the taipan, koala, thorny devil, blue-ringed octopus, estaurine crocodile and quokka. I'll stop at 18 species, but the staggering amount of bizarre and wonderful wildlife is astonishing!!!
My list is a bit biased (sorry New Zealand
)
1. Easily the platypus
2. Macropods in general. The way female red kangaroos can halt the development of embryos. Using less energy to hop at a high speed then if they are crawling slowly. It's all fascinating.
3. Tuatara
4. Koala. The whole not needing to drink thing is an amazing adaptation.
5. Striped Possums. Pretty much an aye-aye in disguise.
6. Lyrebirds. The best bird mimicry ever in my opinion.
7. Echidnas (both species)
8. Kiwi.
9. Marsupial Moles. They evolved so far from other moles but still ended up the same, only with a pouch.
10. Cassowary. Most deadly bird.
)1. Easily the platypus
2. Macropods in general. The way female red kangaroos can halt the development of embryos. Using less energy to hop at a high speed then if they are crawling slowly. It's all fascinating.
3. Tuatara
4. Koala. The whole not needing to drink thing is an amazing adaptation.
5. Striped Possums. Pretty much an aye-aye in disguise.
6. Lyrebirds. The best bird mimicry ever in my opinion.
7. Echidnas (both species)
8. Kiwi.
9. Marsupial Moles. They evolved so far from other moles but still ended up the same, only with a pouch.
10. Cassowary. Most deadly bird.
I took a little liberty with the question, so rather than 12 animals from the three countries combined I am listing my favourite 12 from each country (although there could of course be some overlap between Australia and New Guinea due to species or groups they share). Also I combined some groups under one title (eg birds of paradise) which may be cheating but who cares right?
New Guinea:
1) long-beaked echidna (the best of the monotremes)
2) black-spotted cuscus (one of the biggest, rarest and most beautiful cuscuses)
3) tree kangaroo spp (well, kangaroos that live in trees!)
4) wattled ploughbill (it just looks really cool)
5) bird of paradise spp (the first thing you should think of when you hear the words "New Guinea")
6) bowerbird spp (how can you not like a bird that builds structures so big that early explorers thought they were made by local tribesmen?)
7) Salvadori's monitor (reputed to be the world's longest lizard)
8) pigmy parrot spp (world's smallest)
9) Bulmer's fruit bat (thought to have been extinct for thousands of years until rediscovered in 1975)
10) Queen Alexandra's birdwing (world's largest butterfly)
11) Arfak Mountains frog (up to 20cm long)
12) pig-nosed turtle (just because I like them)
Australia:
1) platypus (everyone's favourite wierdo animal)
2) gastric-brooding frogs (swallow their eggs and hatch them out inside the stomach!)
3) ground parrot (like a miniature kakapo, lives terrestrially on buttongrass plains)
4) Cooloola monster (a burrowing flightless cricket so unusual that when first discovered in 1976 it was thought to be a hoax; a new family had to be erected to house the species)
5) Tasmanian giant freshwater crayfish (world's largest freshwater invertebrate; up to 3 feet long)
6) salamander fish (unusually for a fish it has a mobile neck, enabling it to turn its head)
7) honey possum (tiny possum with the longest sperm relative to body size of any mammal)
8) turtle frog (Google Image this one: one of the oddest-looking frogs ever!)
9) palm cockatoo (hits tree trunks with a stick like its playing a drum)
10) ghost bat (a big bat that hunts rats)
11) moloch (strangest reptile ever!)
12) marsupial mole (a marsupial that looks just like a golden mole - either convergent evolution or God just didn't have much imagination)
New Zealand:
1) tuatara (no explanation needed I trust)
2) kakapo (world's largest parrot; only flightless parrot; only lek parrot species; only NZ lek bird; only flightless lek bird; etc etc etc)
3) bioluminescent freshwater limpets
4) weta spp (giant crickets including the giant weta that weighs as much as a song thrush; tusked weta with tusks like an elephant; alpine weta that freezes solid in winter and thaws out with no ill-effects in spring)
5) kea (only alpine parrot, and reputed to be one of the world's most intelligent birds)
6) Hector's dolphin (one of the smallest and rarest in the world)
7) mudfish (aestivates like a lungfish in droughts: early settlers joked that NZ was so productive that you could dig both fish and potatoes from the same field)
8) rock wren (tiny almost-flightless bird that lives at the tops of mountains; in winter it lives in burrows between boulders under the snow cover)
9) kiwi (too unusual a bird to even begin to list its unique qualities)
10) stitchbird (one of only three birds known worldwide that sometimes mates face-to-face)
11) egg-laying skink (forages underwater in rockpools and below the tideline; the only native oviparous lizard)
12) kokako (runs like a squirrel through the trees, and has a song that sounds like organ-pipe music)
New Guinea:
1) long-beaked echidna (the best of the monotremes)
2) black-spotted cuscus (one of the biggest, rarest and most beautiful cuscuses)
3) tree kangaroo spp (well, kangaroos that live in trees!)
4) wattled ploughbill (it just looks really cool)
5) bird of paradise spp (the first thing you should think of when you hear the words "New Guinea")
6) bowerbird spp (how can you not like a bird that builds structures so big that early explorers thought they were made by local tribesmen?)
7) Salvadori's monitor (reputed to be the world's longest lizard)
8) pigmy parrot spp (world's smallest)
9) Bulmer's fruit bat (thought to have been extinct for thousands of years until rediscovered in 1975)
10) Queen Alexandra's birdwing (world's largest butterfly)
11) Arfak Mountains frog (up to 20cm long)
12) pig-nosed turtle (just because I like them)
Australia:
1) platypus (everyone's favourite wierdo animal)
2) gastric-brooding frogs (swallow their eggs and hatch them out inside the stomach!)
3) ground parrot (like a miniature kakapo, lives terrestrially on buttongrass plains)
4) Cooloola monster (a burrowing flightless cricket so unusual that when first discovered in 1976 it was thought to be a hoax; a new family had to be erected to house the species)
5) Tasmanian giant freshwater crayfish (world's largest freshwater invertebrate; up to 3 feet long)
6) salamander fish (unusually for a fish it has a mobile neck, enabling it to turn its head)
7) honey possum (tiny possum with the longest sperm relative to body size of any mammal)
8) turtle frog (Google Image this one: one of the oddest-looking frogs ever!)
9) palm cockatoo (hits tree trunks with a stick like its playing a drum)
10) ghost bat (a big bat that hunts rats)
11) moloch (strangest reptile ever!)
12) marsupial mole (a marsupial that looks just like a golden mole - either convergent evolution or God just didn't have much imagination)
New Zealand:
1) tuatara (no explanation needed I trust)
2) kakapo (world's largest parrot; only flightless parrot; only lek parrot species; only NZ lek bird; only flightless lek bird; etc etc etc)
3) bioluminescent freshwater limpets
4) weta spp (giant crickets including the giant weta that weighs as much as a song thrush; tusked weta with tusks like an elephant; alpine weta that freezes solid in winter and thaws out with no ill-effects in spring)
5) kea (only alpine parrot, and reputed to be one of the world's most intelligent birds)
6) Hector's dolphin (one of the smallest and rarest in the world)
7) mudfish (aestivates like a lungfish in droughts: early settlers joked that NZ was so productive that you could dig both fish and potatoes from the same field)
8) rock wren (tiny almost-flightless bird that lives at the tops of mountains; in winter it lives in burrows between boulders under the snow cover)
9) kiwi (too unusual a bird to even begin to list its unique qualities)
10) stitchbird (one of only three birds known worldwide that sometimes mates face-to-face)
11) egg-laying skink (forages underwater in rockpools and below the tideline; the only native oviparous lizard)
12) kokako (runs like a squirrel through the trees, and has a song that sounds like organ-pipe music)
Great lists and scary to think how many of them are threatened species (but then not much isn't these days). Sadly, three species of gastric brooding frogs are now extint.
It's moving away from the original question, but I'd also like to give special mention to the following Australian animals that I don't think have been listed yet: Corroborree frog (beautiful endangered alpine frog); kookaburra; tassie devil; lungfish; and gliders (in general, but special mention to the endangered Mahongany glider).
It's moving away from the original question, but I'd also like to give special mention to the following Australian animals that I don't think have been listed yet: Corroborree frog (beautiful endangered alpine frog); kookaburra; tassie devil; lungfish; and gliders (in general, but special mention to the endangered Mahongany glider).
dragon(ele)nerd
Well-Known Member
Mine would be:
1. platypus
2. Echidnas (both species)
3. Tasmanian Devil
4. Tree Kangaroo
5. Cassowary
6. Lyrebirds.
7. numbat
8. Koala.
9. Kangaroo
10. Emu ( Emoooooos) ahahaha
11. Taipan
12. Kiwi.
1. platypus
2. Echidnas (both species)
3. Tasmanian Devil
4. Tree Kangaroo
5. Cassowary
6. Lyrebirds.
7. numbat
8. Koala.
9. Kangaroo
10. Emu ( Emoooooos) ahahaha
11. Taipan
12. Kiwi.
Platypus, yellow-footed rock-wallaby, superb lyrebird, thorny devil, kiwi, crested penguin(s), antipodes parakeet, tasmanian devil, koala, quolls, all gliding marsupials. And all birds of paradise and bowerbirds of course!
Strange is that few of these can be found in zoos outside Australia, and in no zoo I could see bowerbird's bower or sugar glider gliding!
Strange is that few of these can be found in zoos outside Australia, and in no zoo I could see bowerbird's bower or sugar glider gliding!
Thanks for all the responses...it appears that monotremes are the most fascinating animals of Australia so far...
You may ask why I want opinions of Australian fauna. I am not to familiar with Australian animals, with the common exceptions of koala, kanagaroos, emu, cassowary, and platypus. Like many other members of this forum...i enjoy designing my own zoo exhibits for my imaginary zoos. I feel that American zoos, for the most part, have done a poor job exhibiting a good collection of Australian fauna apart from the average kangaroo/wallaby & emu enclosure, koala exhibits, or Loorikeet aviaries. Id like to get a good feel of what animals Australia has to offer and what is so unique about each one. So thanks again for all that have responded to my request.
You may ask why I want opinions of Australian fauna. I am not to familiar with Australian animals, with the common exceptions of koala, kanagaroos, emu, cassowary, and platypus. Like many other members of this forum...i enjoy designing my own zoo exhibits for my imaginary zoos. I feel that American zoos, for the most part, have done a poor job exhibiting a good collection of Australian fauna apart from the average kangaroo/wallaby & emu enclosure, koala exhibits, or Loorikeet aviaries. Id like to get a good feel of what animals Australia has to offer and what is so unique about each one. So thanks again for all that have responded to my request.
Sun Wukong
Well-Known Member
It's a pity most of Australia's Pleistocene Megafauna became extinct; species like the giant Thunder Birds, Megalania or that giant echidna (Zaglossus hacketti) would have been worthy additions to all those fine lists above. 
I was originally going to include another list of 12 in my post for extinct NZ wildlife (Harpagornis, kawekaweau, NZ owlet-nightjar, huia, etc etc) but thought that might be a little too indulgent
Searched Marsupial Mole in zoochat and came to this thread. Just wondering if anyone's ever heard of a Marsupial Mole being in captivity, especially recently? In Australia or otherwise??
surprisingly enough, given the rarity which with they are recorded, marsupial moles have been kept in captivity, albeit for only short periods before dying (in the region of several weeks). Apparently the Desert Park at Alice Springs gets them brought in occasionally.
They have definitely never been kept outside of Australia though.
nanoboy
Well-Known Member
I quite liked your other lists x3 - you should post a list of extinct NZ species!
WildlifeGirl89
Member
My list is:
1. Platypus - cos they're unusual and amazing
2. Masked Owl - they're beautiful and I love the owls ability to fly soundlessly
3. Red Kangaroo - incredibly fast and strong
4. Echidnas (both species) - awesome defence mechanism
5. Taipan - world's most venomous land snake, obviously essential in my list lol
6. Koala - very cute, and amazing marsupial
7. Cassowary - fascinating bird and possibly the world's most dangerous
8. Kea - is endangered and the only true alpine parrot species in the world
9. Striped Possum - is very cute and is unfortunately endangered
10. Diamond Python - just cos I like them
11. Black-headed Python - one of only two python species in Australia (perhaps the world) that has no heat pits, and therefore feeds on cold-blooded prey, inc. other snakes
12. Birds of paradise (not referring to any particular species) - beautiful plumage, amazing mating rituals and generally very interesting birds
There's obviously a lot more I want to say, but as I'm restricted to 12....I'll just leave them in my head lol
1. Platypus - cos they're unusual and amazing
2. Masked Owl - they're beautiful and I love the owls ability to fly soundlessly
3. Red Kangaroo - incredibly fast and strong
4. Echidnas (both species) - awesome defence mechanism
5. Taipan - world's most venomous land snake, obviously essential in my list lol
6. Koala - very cute, and amazing marsupial
7. Cassowary - fascinating bird and possibly the world's most dangerous
8. Kea - is endangered and the only true alpine parrot species in the world
9. Striped Possum - is very cute and is unfortunately endangered
10. Diamond Python - just cos I like them
11. Black-headed Python - one of only two python species in Australia (perhaps the world) that has no heat pits, and therefore feeds on cold-blooded prey, inc. other snakes
12. Birds of paradise (not referring to any particular species) - beautiful plumage, amazing mating rituals and generally very interesting birds
There's obviously a lot more I want to say, but as I'm restricted to 12....I'll just leave them in my head lol
