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Australian Megafauna
The term Australian megafauna refers to the megafauna in Australia during the Pleistocene Epoch. Most of these species became extinct during the latter half of the Pleistocene, and the roles of human and climatic factors in their extinction are contested. There are similarities between the prehistoric Australian megafauna and some mythical creatures from the Aboriginal Dreamtime. Causes of extinction Many modern researchers, including Tim Flannery, think that with the arrival of early Aboriginal Australians (around 70,000~65,000 years ago), hunting and the use of fire to manage their environment may have contributed to the extinction of the megafauna. Increased aridity during peak glaciation (about 18,000 years ago) may have also contributed, but most of the megafauna were already extinct by this time. Others, including Steve Wroe, note that records in the Australian Pleistocene are rare, and there is not enough data to definitively determine the time of extinction of many o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thylacoleo Skeleton In Naracoorte Caves
''Thylacoleo'' ("pouch lion") is an extinct genus of carnivorous marsupials that lived in Australia from the late Pliocene to the late Pleistocene (2 million to 46 thousand years ago). Some of these marsupial lions were the largest mammalian predators in Australia of their time, with ''Thylacoleo carnifex'' approaching the weight of a lioness. The estimated average weight for the species ranges from . Taxonomy The genus was first published in 1859, erected to describe the type species ''Thylacoleo carnifex''. The new taxon was established in examination of fossil specimens provided to Richard Owen. The familial alliance takes its name from this description, the so-called marsupial lions of Thylacoleonidae. The colloquial name "marsupial lion" alludes to the superficial resemblance to the placental lion and its ecological niche as a large predator. ''Thylacoleo'' is not closely related to the modern lion (''Panthera leo''). Genus: ''Thylacoleo'' (''Thylacopardus'') – Australi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lynch's Crater
Lynch's Crater () formed about 230,000 years ago during an explosive volcanic eruption, creating a maar on the eastern edge of the Atherton Tableland in Queensland, Australia. Located at an altitude of about 760 m, the crater is about 80 m deep and has been heavily worn by erosion. Following its formation, a crater lake formed in the depression that was gradually filled in with deposits, so that the surface is now an average of 45 m beneath the rim. The present day interior is filled with swampy ground that is maintained by a stream flowing in from the eastern side. This water exits the crater to form a tributary of the North Johnstone River. The mean annual rainfall at this site is 2,500 mm. Sedimentary deposits in the crater provide pollen samples covering most of the last 200,000 years of vegetation growth in the region; spanning the last two glacial periods. During the interglacial epochs, the crater was occupied by mesic evergreen rainforest. In the cool ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Red Kangaroo
The red kangaroo (''Osphranter rufus'') is the largest of all kangaroos, the largest terrestrial mammal native to Australia, and the largest extant marsupial. It is found across mainland Australia, except for the more fertile areas, such as southern Western Australia, the eastern and southeastern coasts, and the rainforests along the northern coast. Taxonomy The initial description of the species by A.G. Desmarest was published in 1822. The type location was given as an unknown location west of the Blue Mountains. The author assigned the new species to the genus ''Kangurus''. In 1842, Gould reassigned the species to the genus '' Osphranter'', a taxon later submerged as a subgenus of ''Macropus''. A taxonomic restructure in 2015 in ''Taxonomy of Australian Mammals'' by Jackson and Groves promoted ''Osphranter'' back to genus level, redefining the red kangaroo, among others, as species within the genus ''Osphranter''. This was further supported by genetic analysis in 2019. D ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Red Kangaroo - Melbourne Zoo
Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondary color (made from magenta and yellow) in the CMYK color model, and is the complementary color of cyan. Reds range from the brilliant yellow-tinged scarlet and vermillion to bluish-red crimson, and vary in shade from the pale red pink to the dark red burgundy. Red pigment made from ochre was one of the first colors used in prehistoric art. The Ancient Egyptians and Mayans colored their faces red in ceremonies; Roman generals had their bodies colored red to celebrate victories. It was also an important color in China, where it was used to color early pottery and later the gates and walls of palaces. In the Renaissance, the brilliant red costumes for the nobility and wealthy were dyed with kermes and cochineal. The 19th century brought the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Willandra Lakes Region
The Willandra Lakes Region is a World Heritage Site in the Far West region of New South Wales, Australia. The Willandra Lakes Region is the traditional meeting place of the Muthi Muthi, Ngiyampaa and Barkinji Aboriginal tribes. The area was inscribed on the World Heritage List at the 5th Session of the World Heritage Committee in 1981. The Region contains important natural and cultural features including exceptional examples of past human civilization including the world's oldest cremation site. A small section of the region is protected by the Mungo National Park. The World Heritage status of the region was created and negotiated in 1981. The site was gazetted on the Australian National Heritage List on 21 May 2007 under the . The region is also listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register. History Willandra Lakes has formed over the last 2 million years. The ancient shorelines are stratified into three major layers of sediments that were deposited at different s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zygomaturus
''Zygomaturus'' is an extinct genus of giant marsupial belonging to the family Diprotodontidae which inhabited Australia from the Late Miocene to Late Pleistocene. Description It was a large animal, weighing 500 kg (1100 lbs) or over 700 kg (1544 lbs) and standing about 1.5 m (4.9 ft) tall and 2.5 m (8.2 ft) long. Palaeobiology In an analysis of remains from Cuddie Springs, the carbon isotope ratios suggests that it consumed both C3 and C4 plants, with a dental microwear texture indicative of browsing. Preserved remains suggest that ''Zygomaturus'' was widely distributed over Australia during the Pleistocene. Evolution and extinction The earliest members of the genus such as ''Zygomaturus gilli'' appeared during the Late Miocene, during the regional Waitean faunal stage. It is thought that the youngest species, ''Zygomaturus trilobus'' became extinct curing the latter half of the Late Pleistocene, with typical estimates being a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Giant Malleefowl
''Progura'' is an extinct genus of megapode that was native to Australia. It was described from Plio-Pleistocene deposits at the Darling Downs and Chinchilla in southeastern Queensland by Charles De Vis. Taxonomy Comparison of Australian megapodes showed that ''Progura'' was closely related to the living malleefowl (''Leipoa ocellata''), though the fossil species ''P. gallinacea'' was considerably larger than the living one. A second species, ''P. naracoortensis'', was described in 1974 by van Tets from deposits in the Naracoorte Caves of southeastern South Australia with differing size and leg proportions. It was formerly considered a synonym of ''P. gallinacea'', on the grounds of sexual dimorphism. However in a 2017 review of Cenozoic megapodes, ''P. naracoortensis'' was found to be distinct from ''P. gallinacea'' and therefore reassigned to the genus '' Latagallina'' In the 2017 review, a new second species, ''Progura campestris'' was created for Pleistocene material f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Megapode
The megapodes, also known as incubator birds or mound-builders, are stocky, medium-large, chicken-like birds with small heads and large feet in the family Megapodiidae. Their name literally means "large foot" and is a reference to the heavy legs and feet typical of these terrestrial birds. All are browsers, and all but the malleefowl occupy wooded habitats. Most are brown or black in color. Megapodes are superprecocial, hatching from their eggs in the most mature condition of any bird. They hatch with open eyes, bodily coordination and strength, full wing feathers, and downy body feathers, and are able to run, pursue prey, and in some species, fly on the same day they hatch. Description Megapodes are medium-sized to large terrestrial birds with large legs and feet with sharp claws. The largest members of the clade are the species of '' Alectura'' and '' Talegalla''. The smallest are the Micronesian scrubfowl (''Megapodius laperouse'') and the Moluccan scrubfowl (''Eulipoa wal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flightless Bird
Flightless birds are birds that through evolution lost the ability to fly. There are over 60 extant species, including the well known ratites (ostriches, emu, cassowaries, rheas, and kiwi) and penguins. The smallest flightless bird is the Inaccessible Island rail (length 12.5 cm, weight 34.7 g). The largest (both heaviest and tallest) flightless bird, which is also the largest living bird, is the ostrich (2.7 m, 156 kg). Many domesticated birds, such as the domestic chicken and domestic duck, have lost the ability to fly for extended periods, although their ancestral species, the red junglefowl and mallard, respectively, are capable of extended flight. A few particularly bred birds, such as the Broad Breasted White turkey, have become totally flightless as a result of selective breeding; the birds were bred to grow massive breast meat that weighs too much for the bird's wings to support in flight. Flightlessness has evolved in many different birds independen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Genyornis Newtoni
''Genyornis newtoni'', also known as thunder bird and mihirung paringmal (meaning "giant bird"), is an extinct species of large, flightless bird that lived in Australia during the Pleistocene epoch until around 50,000 years ago. Over two metres in height, they were likely herbivorous. Many other species of Australian megafauna became extinct in Australia around that time, coinciding with the arrival of humans. It is the last known member of the extinct flightless bird family Dromornithidae which had been part of the fauna of the Australian continent for over 30 million years. They are not closely related to ratites such as emus, and their closest living relatives are thought to be fowl. Taxonomy The species was first described in 1896 by Edward Charles Stirling and A. H. C. Zietz, the authors giving the epithet ''newtoni'' for the Cambridge professor Alfred Newton. The name of the genus is derived from ancient Greek terms referring to the lower jaw and a bird. The type s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eggshell
An eggshell is the outer covering of a hard-shelled egg and of some forms of eggs with soft outer coats. Diversity Worm eggs Nematode eggs present a two layered structure: an external vitellin layer made of chitin that confers mechanical resistance and an internal lipid-rich layer that makes the egg chamber impermeable. Insect eggs Insects and other arthropods lay a large variety of styles and shapes of eggs. Some of them have gelatinous or skin-like coverings, others have hard eggshells. Softer shells are mostly protein. It may be fibrous or quite liquid. Some arthropod eggs do not actually have shells, rather, their outer covering is actually the outermost embryonic membrane, the choroid, which serves to protect inner layers. The choroid itself can be a complex structure, and it may have different layers within it. It may have an outermost layer called an ''exochorion''. Eggs which must survive in dry conditions usually have hard eggshells, made mostly of dehydrated ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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