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Coastal Upland Swamps
The Coastal Upland Swamps are critically endangered swamp areas scattered in the Sydney area and the Illawarra Escarpment which feature flora and fauna associated with sporadically marshy soils on the Hawkesbury sandstone plateaus.COASTAL UPLAND SWAMPS IN THE SYDNEY BASIN BIOREGION: DRAFT DESCRIPTION Department of the Environment. Retrieved 14 September 2022. It occurs in the eastern Sydney area from the Somersby, New South Wales, Somersby district in the north to Robertson, New South Wales, Robertson in the south. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Australasian Realm
The Australasian realm is one of eight biogeographic realms that is coincident with, but not (by some definitions) the same as, the geographical region of Australasia. The realm includes Australia, the island of New Guinea (comprising Papua New Guinea and the Indonesian province of Papua), and the eastern part of the Indonesian archipelago, including the island of Sulawesi, the Moluccas (the Indonesian provinces of Maluku and North Maluku), and the islands of Lombok, Sumbawa, Sumba, Flores, and Timor, often known as the Lesser Sundas. The Australasian realm also includes several Pacific island groups, including the Bismarck Archipelago, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, and New Caledonia. New Zealand and its surrounding islands are a distinctive sub-region of the Australasian realm. The rest of Indonesia is part of the Indomalayan realm. In the classification scheme developed by Miklos Udvardy, New Guinea, New Caledonia, Solomon Islands and New Zealand are placed in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shale
Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of Clay mineral, clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g., Kaolinite, kaolin, aluminium, Al2Silicon, Si2Oxygen, O5(hydroxide, OH)4) and tiny fragments (silt-sized particles) of other minerals, especially quartz and calcite.Blatt, Harvey and Robert J. Tracy (1996) ''Petrology: Igneous, Sedimentary and Metamorphic'', 2nd ed., Freeman, pp. 281–292 Shale is characterized by its tendency to split into thin layers (Lamination (geology), laminae) less than one centimeter in thickness. This property is called ''Fissility (geology), fissility''. Shale is the most common sedimentary rock. The term ''shale'' is sometimes applied more broadly, as essentially a synonym for mudrock, rather than in the narrower sense of clay-rich fissile mudrock. Texture Shale typically exhibits varying degrees of fissility. Because of the parallel orientation of clay mineral flakes in shale, it breaks in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Giant Dragonfly
''Petalura gigantea'', the giant dragonfly or south-eastern petaltail, is a species of dragonfly in the family Petaluridae from southeastern Australia. Males have body length of and a wingspan up to , while females have body length of and a wingspan up to . This makes it a very large species of dragonfly, although it is exceeded by a few other species, including the closely related northeast Australian giant petaltail (''P. ingentissima''). The giant dragonfly occurs along the east coast of New South Wales, ranging from the northern part of the state to the Victorian border region, and is not found west of the Great Dividing Range. There are known occurrences in the Blue Mountains and Southern Highlands, in the Clarence River catchment, and on a few coastal swamps from north of Grafton to Nadgee in the south. The giant dragonfly is listed as endangered under the New South Wales Threatened Species Conservation Act. This listing was transferred to the equivalent schedules u ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Red-crowned Toadlet
The red-crowned toadlet (''Pseudophryne australis'') is a species of Australian ground frog, restricted to the Sydney Basin, New South Wales. It is only found around sandstone escarpment areas around Sydney, from Ourimbah in the north, Nowra to the south and the Blue Mountains areas to the west. Description This is a small species of frog, reaching 30 mm in length. It is characterised by the red T-shaped mark on its head. It is dark brown or black above with a red wash or spots over its back, and a red mark near the vent. The sides are a blue-grey and there is a white mark in the armpits and thighs. The ventral surface is very strongly marbled black and white, with a bluish colour in some areas between the black and white. Ecology and behaviour This species is only found around temporary creeks and soaks in sandstone habitats in woodland, heathland and dry sclerophyll forest around the Sydney basin. Males make an ark call from nest sites under leaf litter and rocks, in ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Green And Golden Bell Frog
The green and golden bell frog (''Ranoidea aurea''), also named the green bell frog, green and golden swamp frog and green frog, is a species of ground-dwelling tree frog native to eastern Australia. Despite its classification and climbing abilities, it does not live in trees and spends almost all of its time close to ground level. It can reach up to in length, making it one of Australia's largest frogs. Coloured gold and green, the frogs are voracious eaters of insects, but will also eat larger prey, such as worms and mice. They are mainly diurnal, although this is mostly to warm in the sun. They tend to be less active in winter except in warmer or wetter periods, and breed in the warmer months. Males reach maturity after around 9 months, while for the larger females, this does not occur until they are two years old. The frogs can engage in cannibalism, and males frequently attack and injure one another if they infringe on one another's space. Many populations, particularly ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sydney Crayfish
''Sagmariasus verreauxi'' is a species of spiny lobster that lives around northern New Zealand, the Kermadec Islands the Chatham Islands and Australia from Queensland to Tasmania. It is probably the longest decapod crustacean in the world, alongside the American lobster ''Homarus americanus'', growing to lengths of up to . Names The species has many common names in English, including ''Australian crayfish'', ''common crayfish'', ''common Sydney crayfish'', ''eastern crayfish'', ''eastern rock lobster'', ''green cray'', ''green crayfish'', ''green lobster'', ''green rock lobster'', ''marine crayfish'', ''New South Wales spiny lobster'', ''packhorse crayfish'', ''packhorse lobster'', ''sea crayfish'', ''smooth-tailed crayfish'' and ''Sydney crayfish''. In Māori, it is called '. ''S. verreauxi'' was formerly included in the genus '' Jasus'', but has been separated into a monotypic genus ''Sagmariasus'' due to the lack of sculpturation on the abdomen, which is found in all other ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Euastacus
''Euastacus'' is a genus of fresh water, freshwater crayfish known as "spiny crayfish". They are found in the south-east of the Australian mainland, along with another genus of crayfish, ''Cherax''. Both genera are members of the family Parastacidae, a family of freshwater crayfish restricted to the Southern Hemisphere. ''Euastacus'' crayfish are distinguished from the smooth-shelled ''Cherax'' species by the short robust spikes on their claws and carapace, and frequently, their larger size. Many ''Euastacus'' species grow to a relatively large size, with the Murray crayfish, Murray River crayfish (''Euastacus armatus'') being the second largest freshwater crayfish species in the world. (The largest freshwater crayfish in the world is the Tasmanian giant freshwater crayfish (''Astacopsis gouldi''), found on the Australian island of Tasmania, and the genus ''Astacopsis'' is now known to be a very closely related sister genus to ''Euastacus''.) The genera ''Cherax'' and ''Euastac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Australian Crayfish
''Sagmariasus verreauxi'' is a species of spiny lobster that lives around northern New Zealand, the Kermadec Islands the Chatham Islands and Australia from Queensland to Tasmania. It is probably the longest Decapoda, decapod crustacean in the world, alongside the American lobster ''Homarus americanus'', growing to lengths of up to . Names The species has many common names in English, including ''Australian crayfish'', ''common crayfish'', ''common Sydney crayfish'', ''eastern crayfish'', ''eastern rock lobster'', ''green cray'', ''green crayfish'', ''green lobster'', ''green rock lobster'', ''marine crayfish'', ''New South Wales spiny lobster'', ''packhorse crayfish'', ''packhorse lobster'', ''sea crayfish'', ''smooth-tailed crayfish'' and ''Sydney crayfish''. In Māori language, Māori, it is called '. ''S. verreauxi'' was formerly included in the genus ''Jasus'', but has been separated into a monotypic taxon, monotypic genus ''Sagmariasus'' due to the lack of sculpturation on t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cryptogamic
A cryptogam (scientific name ''Cryptogamae'') is a plant, in the broad sense of the word, or a plant-like organism that share similar characteristics, such as being Multicellular organism, multicellular, Photosynthesis, photosynthetic, and primarily immobile, that reproduces via spores rather than through Flower, flowers or seeds. This broader definition can include algae, fungi, and certain bacteria (like cyanobacteria), even though they may belong to different Biological kingdom, biological kingdoms. Taxonomy The name ''Cryptogamae'' () means "hidden reproduction", meaning non-seed bearing plants. Other names, such as "thallophytes", "lower plants", and "spore plants" have occasionally been used. As a group, Cryptogamae are paired with the Phanerogamae or Spermatophyta, the seed plants. At one time, the cryptogams were formally recognised as a group within the plant kingdom. In his system for classification of all known plants and animals, Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fungi
A fungus (: fungi , , , or ; or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as one of the kingdom (biology)#Six kingdoms (1998), traditional eukaryotic kingdoms, along with Animalia, Plantae, and either Protista or Protozoa and Chromista. A characteristic that places fungi in a different kingdom from plants, bacteria, and some protists is chitin in their cell walls. Fungi, like animals, are heterotrophs; they acquire their food by absorbing dissolved molecules, typically by secreting digestive enzymes into their environment. Fungi do not photosynthesize. Growth is their means of motility, mobility, except for spores (a few of which are flagellated), which may travel through the air or water. Fungi are the principal decomposers in ecological systems. These and other differences place fungi in a single group of related o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Microorganisms
A microorganism, or microbe, is an organism of microscopic size, which may exist in its single-celled form or as a colony of cells. The possible existence of unseen microbial life was suspected from antiquity, with an early attestation in Jain literature authored in 6th-century BC India. The scientific study of microorganisms began with their observation under the microscope in the 1670s by Anton van Leeuwenhoek. In the 1850s, Louis Pasteur found that microorganisms caused food spoilage, debunking the theory of spontaneous generation. In the 1880s, Robert Koch discovered that microorganisms caused the diseases tuberculosis, cholera, diphtheria, and anthrax. Microorganisms are extremely diverse, representing most unicellular organisms in all three domains of life: two of the three domains, Archaea and Bacteria, only contain microorganisms. The third domain, Eukaryota, includes all multicellular organisms as well as many unicellular protists and protozoans that ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sedge
The Cyperaceae () are a family of graminoid (grass-like), monocotyledonous flowering plants known as wikt:sedge, sedges. The family (biology), family is large; botanists have species description, described some 5,500 known species in about 90 genus, generathe largest being the "true wikt:sedge, sedges" (genus ''Carex''), with over 2,000 species. Distribution Cyperaceae species are widely distributed with the centers of diversity for the group occurring in tropical Asia and tropical South America. While sedges grow in almost all environments, many thrive in wetlands or in poor soils. Community (ecology), Ecological communities dominated by sedges are known as s or as sedge meadows. Classification Some species superficially resemble the closely related Juncaceae , rushes and the more distantly related grasses. Features distinguishing members of the sedge family from grasses or rushes are stems with triangular cross-sections (with occasional exceptions, a notable example be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
