 |
Nothing symbolizes Australia more than the beloved Kangaroo. Here is a young Red from the Yookamurra Sanctuary in South Australia. |
| This is a special conservation collection of interesting animals and birds of continental Australia. Pertinent species and habitat information accompanies each image. |
|
|
Nothing symbolizes Australia more than the beloved Kangaroo. Here is a young Red from the Yookamurra Sanctuary in South Australia. |
 |
The Emu is Australia's largest bird. Dromaius novaehollandiae has been resident in Australia for at least 80 million years. |
 |
The Chlamydosaurus kingii is one of Australia's most distinctive and familiar dragon lizards. |
 |
Along with the kangaroos, the Platypus is totally identified with Australia. It is an animal which suckles it young, has fur, but also has a bill like a duck and it lays eggs. |
 |
The Shingleback is an extremely distinctive member of the lizard family known as skinks. Its two most striking features are the short rounded tail, which bears a remarkable resemblance to the head end to confuse predators, and the huge (protective) scales covering the body giving it a rough and bumpy appearance. |
 |
Echidnas (Tachyglossus aculeatus) - or spiny ant eaters as they are sometimes called - are familiar to most Australians. Echidnas are monotremes (mammals that lay eggs). There are only three species of monotreme in the world -- the platypus and two species of echidna, one of which is restricted to the New Guinea highlands. |
 |
L. splendida is confined to the northwest of Western Australia and the adjacent margin of the Northern Territory. It is a large and handsome species of frog characterized by having a large gland upon the entire dorsal surface of the head. |
 |
The very large and spectacular White-lipped Tree Frog grows to 135mm -- it is the world's largest tree frog. L. infrafrenata is confined in Australia to Cape York Peninsula and the wet tropics of north-east Queensland, the Gulf of Carpenteria, to the whole of New Guinea and parts of eastern Indonesia. |
 |
The Tawny Frogmouth is the most widespread of the frogmouths of Australia. It is found Australia-wide. It's Aboriginal (Kunwinjku) name is Djurrurl, meaning 'feathers on the nose.' With their nocturnal habit and owl-like appearance, Tawny Frogmouths are often confused with owls but they are actually more closely related to the nightjars. Their feet are weak, however, and lack the curved talons of owls. They are marvelously good at pretending to be bits of dead tree. |
 |
In Australia the Papuan Frogmouth is restricted to north Queensland. It is nocturnal and is usually seen singly. In a roost they are very difficult to spot unless you know exactly where to look. |
 |
Two species of Lyrebird are found in Australia. The most common is the Superb Lyrebird. When seen they are normally just a blur as they run and dodge rapidly through the dense forest underbrush. They are remarkably competent mimics, able to imitate most of the calls of the other species in their locality, as well as some sounds produced by humans. |
 |
The Satin Bowerbird of Australia is a very interesting bird. They are so-named because of the intricate bower structures built by the males. These are not nests but rather display arenas to attract females. |
 |
Found only in Australia and one of the most endangered pinnipeds in the world, there are estimated to be 10,000-12,000 Australian sea lions between The Pages Islands in South Australia and Houtman Abrolhos off the Western Australian coast. The species mostly inhabits islands. |
 |
A subspecies of the domestic Dog, the Dingo evolved from a wolf. The Dingo cannot be reliably distinguished on any external characteristics. It differs from the domestic dog in that the Dingo breeds only once a year and it seldom barks. Most closely related to the semi-domestic Dog of South-east Asia, it seems to have arrived in Australia about 3,500 years ago. |
 |
Australia is home to many magnificent animals but one of the most bizarre of all is a tiny spiny lizard known as the thorny devil, or mountain devil. |
|
|
| All the photographs contained herein are copyrighted by Dr. Ellen K. Rudolph and are protected by United States and international copyright laws. No images reproduced on the pages of this site are in the Public Domain. The images are for web browser viewing only and may not be reproduced, copied, stored, downloaded or altered in any way without the explicit written authorization of Ellen Rudolph.Rudolph. |