Monday, October 7, 2013

Common Spiny Bandicoot

A regular night-time visitor to gardens and the coffee and fruit plantations of New Guinea, the common spiny
bandicoot is a true omnivore, feasting on fallen fruits, insects and soft-bodied invertebrates.  In its natural forest habitat, the animal tunnels through the deep layer of leaf litter that covers the ground.




Sunday, October 6, 2013

Northern Quoll

Roughly the same size as a domestic cat, the quolls are sometimes referred to as 'native cats'.  Like their namesake, quolls are predators, and a predilection for domestic fowl resulted in them being persecuted by farmers.  Today, quolls are endangered.  This species is restricted to pockets of habitat on Australia's north coast.


Numbat

Also known as the banded anteater, the numbat uses its long tongue to lick up termites and ants.  It can eat 20,000 insects in one day.  The numbat uses its powerful forelegs to rip into rotting logs and earth mounds to find prey.  They are most active during the day and spend most of their time foraging alone.



AUSTRALASIAN MARSUPIALS

Although they also live in the Americas, New Guinea and Indonesia, marsupials are most associated with the Australian mainland.  The mammals reproduce in a somewhat peculiar way.  The females have no uterus in which to nurture a fetus, so the young complete their development in a pouch on their mother's belly.

MAMMALS

There are about 4500 species of mammal, all of which feed their young on milk.  The largest creatures on Earth today are mammal species, and we ourselves belong to this group.




Mammals are hairy creatures; all of them have at least a few hairs at some point of their development, most are covered head to foot with fur.  Mammals are warm-blooded.  In other words, they maintain a constant body temperature.  As a result, mammals have been able to exploit more habitats than any other animal group, from the deep ocean to the polar ice and desert sands.     


Source: Animals visual encyclopedia

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