Wildlife by Animal Type

Terrestrial Mammals

Over 270 species of native terrestrial (land dwelling) mammals are found in Australia. Approximately 84% are endemic to Australia, New Guinea and neighboring islands, meaning they are found nowhere else in the world.

This region is the only area in the world where all three sub-classes of mammal are found. These sub-classes are:

Monotremes. Egg-laying mammals occurring only in Australia and New Guinea. They are restricted to two species of echidna (one occurring only in New Guinea, the other in both Australia and New Guinea) and the platypus (Australia only). Monotremes are of great biological interest, as they are the only mammals that lay eggs as well as having true mammalian hair and suckling their young with milk.

Marsupials. Young born at embryonic stage, mostly pouched. Marsupials have a number of unusual features, the most conspicuous and famous being the use of a pouch to carry the young. In several species, this is reduced to only a fold of skin. Young are born at a very immature stage, and climb to the pouch where they attach to their mother’s teats. Approximately half of Australia’s mammals are marsupials.

Marsupials are divided into four orders:

Diprotodonta, meaning ‘two front teeth’. These mainly herbivorous animals include about 80 species, the most well-known are mammals including kangaroos, koalas, wombats and possums.
Dasyuromorphia. These carnivorous animals include the well-known Tasmanian Devil and about 50 other species of smaller animals. The largest mainland species is the quolls.
Peramelemorphia. These omnivorous animals include the bilby and seven species of bandicoot.
Notoryctemorphia. This is a single species of marsupial “mole”, completely unrelated to the placental moles and unique to Australia. It is very rarely seen, living below ground in the outback.

Placentals. Young grow inside the mother’s uterus to a relatively advanced stage of development. Most of the world’s mammals belong to this group. Australia is the only continent where placentals are not the dominant group of mammals. Around half of our mammals are marsupial.

Native terrestrial placental species are almost evenly divided between:

Rodents accounting for 22% of Australian mammal species are all in the rat and mouse family, Muridae. Their ancestors came from the north in several waves probably from about 4 million years ago.
Bats and make another 22% of Australian mammal species. The megabats, such as the flying fox, the tube-nosed bats and blossom bats lack echolocation and feed on fruit or nectar or both. The microbats are small, echo locating insectivorous bats – although some also eat frogs, mice and even other bats.

In addition there are a number of marine mammals.

There are a number of mammals that have been introduced by humans and become well-established in the wild. The longest established is the dingo, brought to Australia perhaps 4000 years ago by Indonesian traders. More recently foxes, cats, rabbits, hares, horses, donkeys, cattle, buffalo, goats, camels, pigs, several species of deer and three species of rodent have been introduced.

Birds

There are over 850 species of birds in Australia and 46% of species are endemic. Five families of bird are endemic to Australia and another nine families are endemic to the region encompassing Australia, New Guinea and neighboring islands.

Australia has an unusually high diversity of parrots (55 species), causing many visitors a delighted amazement at the bright colours of birds found even in our suburbs. The playfulness of wild cockatoos and the sheer numbers in outback flocks surprise many. Australia also has the world’s highest number of seabird species (about 80), and supports very high densities of migratory waders that travel from countries, mainly further north.

We have rattires (large flightless birds) along with other Gondwanan countries, such as ostriches in Africa and rheas in South America. Australia’s rattites are the emus of open heathland, woodlands and desert, and the cassowary of the northeastern forests.

Kookaburras are iconic Australian birds – the largest of the kingfishers, one species of having a very distinctive laugh which is an essential component of much of Australia’s bushland.

Primitive songbirds (passerines) are found in Australia and New Zealand and it is thought by some researchers that the ancestors of the world’s songbirds originated in our part of Gondwana.

Lyrebirds, the world’s best mimics, are amongst the ’suboscines’ or primitive songbirds. They also do an incredible courtship dance with their wonderful shimmering tails held fountain-like above their heads. They are found nowhere else in the world.

Birds of Paradise are identified mainly with New Guinea, but Australia has four species (3 in far north Queensland, one in southeast Queensland and New South Wales)

Reptiles

Australian reptiles are divided into these commonly recognized groups:

Lizards and snakes, the order Squamata
Turtles, the order Testudines and
Crocodiles, the order Crocodilia.

The relatively dry climate in Australia has favored a high diversity of reptiles, with over 830 species currently known and 89% of those being endemic.

The most diverse group of Australian reptiles are the lizards. There are 617 species commonly known as goannas, skinks, geckos, dragon lizards, and flap-footed lizards (also called snake-lizards or legless lizards).

There are more skinks in Australia than any other country.

The large prehistoric goannas are related to the monitors of Africa and the Komodo dragon (a long-extinct goanna was larger than this).

The true dragons include the famous frill-necked lizard any many other species, the family being named after a brightly-coloured gliding species in Malaysia.

Many of them look iguana-like, but there are no iguanas native to Australia. The flap-footed lizards are a primarily Australian group of lizard

Australia is also internationally recognized for its snakes, especially its reputation for having many of the world’s deadliest species.

Snakebites however are rare, and easily avoided by not walking through long grass. Stamp your feet to warn snakes if you do have to go through long grass, checking the ground in front of you when walking on a warm night. Do not reach into dark places such as under logs or into fodder bags without looking first.

Snakes do not see people as prey and generally only bite if they are startled or feel under threat. They will generally move out of your way quickly. The best thing to do is to stand still and let them pass.

There are 188 species of snakes in Australia, including the blind snakes, pythons, collubrid (rear-fanged) snakes, elapid (front-fanged) snakes, sea kraits and sea snakes. Now that taxonomists have separated pythons and boas, Australia has more pythons than any other country.

The crocodile family consists of only two species in Australia, the saltwater crocodile (found from Australia to India) and the freshwater crocodile (endemic to Australia).

Salt-water crocodiles are the largest reptile in the world today, and do very definitely see humans as prey – they have caused several human deaths. They are mostly restricted to coastal rivers and swamps in northern and north-eastern Australian coastal regions.

Fresh-water crocodiles will usually only bite in self-defence and do not attempt to capture humans.

Amphibians

Frogs are unusually diverse in Australia, with approximately 211 native species. All but one is endemic either to Australia or to Australia and New Guinea. Australian native frogs are currently classified into four families Hylidae, Myobatrachidae, Microhylidae and Ranidae.

91% of Australian species belong to the families Hylidae and Myobatrachidae. These families are now thought to be endemic to Australia and New Guinea, but related to South American families via a common Gondwanan ancestry.

There are no toads, newts or salamanders, although several ‘bumpy’ species of frog are called ‘toads’ or ‘toadlets’. One species of toad, the cane toad (Bufo marinus) has been introduced with disastrous effects on our wildlife.

Terrestrial Invertebrates

There are many more invertebrates than vertebrates throughout the world. By far the largest group of terrestrial invertebrates is the arthropods, comprising insects, spiders, ticks, mites, scorpions, centipedes, and millipedes.

Australia has 26 of the world’s 29 orders of insects, yet many new species of insect are being discovered every year, and it is estimated that there are well over 225,000 species in Australia.

The glow worms (actually fly larvae), which live in caves and rocky creek banks and glow to attract their prey, are found only in Australia and New Zealand. The insects called glow worms in the Northern Hemisphere are the larvae of fire-flies, which are in fact beetles. The glow worm caves are a popular tourist attraction in both countries. Fire-flies are also quite common in some forested areas.

Freshwater Fauna

Although Australia has a relatively small number of species of native freshwater fish (194), 71% of these species are endemic to Australia and New Guinea.

Due to threats facing Australia’s freshwater systems, 21% of native freshwater fish are considered either rare, vulnerable or endangered.

Other native freshwater vertebrates include mammals (platypus and water rat), turtles, crocodiles, frogs plus the many birds which forage in a variety of aquatic habitats.

Freshwater invertebrates include molluscs, leeches, spiders, water mites and a range of insects such as stoneflies, mayflies, water ’scorpions’, water beetles, water bugs, mosquitoes and midges. More widely known are the crustaceans such as freshwater crayfish, crabs and yabbies.

Marine Fauna

Australia’s coastal waters are among the most species-rich on earth, with approximately 3400 species of fish alone, most of which are endemic.

This high diversity is related to the wide latitudinal range of marine habitats, and the presence of the world’s largest intact coral reef – the Great Barrier Reef.

The vertebrates are represented by mammals (whales, dolphins, dugong, seals and sea lions), many species of sea birds, reptiles (saltwater crocodiles, sea turtles, sea snakes) and many species of fish. The main groups of invertebrates found underwater and along the shore are sponges, coelenterates, worms, crustaceans, molluscs, bryozoans, echinoderms and urochordates.

Plants

Australia is home to a wonderfully diverse range of plants (flora).

There are over 20,000 species and the majority of these are endemic to Australia. Approximately 85% of the flowering species are found nowhere else in the world!

The flora here is also extraordinarily well adapted to the harsh conditions of the Australian environment – fire, drought and infertile soils.

Although there is a diverse range of plant species, the Eucalyptus (Gums) and the Acacia (Wattle) dominate much of the landscape, with over 850 Eucalyptus species and 1000 Acacia species.

As you travel inland, eucalypts become sparser and more stunted, and Acacia takes over as the dominant woody plant. Further into the outback even the acacias become sparse and are replaced by spinifex, saltbush and other arid land plants.

Lush and ancient rainforests include tropical, subtropical and temperate forms, with variations within these.

Brilliant wildflowers adorn many heathlands and open forest areas, the most famous being those of the southwest corner.

Some of this information was taken (with permission) from: Green, R.J., Higginbottom, K. and Northrope, C.L. 2001. Wildlife Tourism Research Report No. 7, Status Assessment of Wildlife Tourism in Australia Series, A Tourism Classification of Australian Wildlife. CRC for Sustainable Tourism, Gold Coast, Queensland.