Adaptations of Animals in Australia

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Adaptations of Animalsin Australia

• By Juanita Pritchard, Cobb County Schools
• Fall 2010

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• High School
• SB4 Students will assess the dependence of all
  organisms on one another and the flow of energy
  and matter within their ecosystems
• f. Relate animal adaptations, including
  behaviors, to the ability to survive stressful
  environmental conditions.
• Elementary
• S4L2 Students will identify factors that affect
  the survival or extinction of organisms such as
  adaptation, variation of behaviors (hibernation),
  and external features (camouflage and
  protection).
• a. Identify external features of organisms that
  allow them to survive or reproduce better than
  organisms that do not have these features (for
  example camouflage, use of hibernation,
  protection, etc.).

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echidna

• This animal eats insects with its tiny sensitive
  snout.
• The tiny snout inflates or blows up for poking
  into insect mounds.
• This makes the snout more sensitive and helps the
  echidna find more insects.
• It also has spines for protection.

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kangaroo

• Very strong hind legs make it easy for this
  animal to move quickly over long distances with
  less energy.

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Tasmanian devil

• Has very strong jaws and a very strong stomach
  allowing it to eat dead animals that other
  predators leave behind.

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wombat

• They have a hard plate over their lower backs to
  protect them from predators when they are
  burrowing.
• Its pouch faces backwards, to keep dirt out while
  burrowing

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koalas

• Koalas live 80-90 of their life in eucalyptus
  trees, keeping them safe from predators.

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platypus

• The platypus uses electrical sensors in its
  duckbill to find prey hidden in the stream bed.
• The male has poisons spikes on its rear webbed
  feet.

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Australian Desert Animals

• The animals of dry regions have clever
  adaptations that help them survive in this harsh
  environment.

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reptiles

• Reptiles are cold blooded and can thrive in the
  hot desert environment.

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Small mammals

• Most of the desert mammals are small. Being
  small, they can burrow holes and get shelter from
  the heat.
• They stay in their holes during the hot day and
  come out in the cool night.

Spinifex Hopping Mouse
Bilby
Western Pigmy Possum
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Large Mammals

• Not many large mammals live in desert.
• Larger mammals can move farther distance to find
  water.

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Birds in the desert

• Birds can keep their body temperature cooler than
  mammals by flying higher into cooler air.

Falcon
Cockatoo
Owl
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• Photos from http//people.whitman.edu/yancey/afr
  ica.html
• Unique Australian animals http//australian-anim
  als.net/
• http//www.gondwananet.com/australian-desert-anima
  ls.html

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• 30 Amazing Australian Animals by Chris Cheng
• Illustrated by Gregory Rogers Random House
  Australia