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Newhaven Sanctuary
__NOTOC__ Newhaven Wildlife Sanctuary, once known as Newhaven station, lies north-west of Alice Springs at the junction of three distinct bioregions: the Great Sandy Desert, MacDonnell Ranges and Burt Plain in the Northern Territory of Australia. It was established when Newhaven Station, a pastoral cattle-grazing property in the arid zone of the Northern Territory was purchased by Birds Australia in December 2000 from the then owner, Alex Coppock, in order to conserve its outstanding natural values. At in area, Newhaven is five times the size of Birds Australia's other reserve, Gluepot, in South Australia. Newhaven's landforms include parallel dunes, salt lakes, claypans, plains and rocky hills. Vegetation includes grasslands, woodlands and shrublands, which can be subdivided into ten distinct vegetation communities, with over 100 species of plants recorded. Several threatened species of birds and other animals have been recorded on Newhaven. These include the gre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lake Mackay, Northern Territory
__NOTOC__ Lake Mackay is a locality in the Northern Territory of Australia located on the territory’s south-west adjoining the border with the state of Western Australia about south of the territory capital of Darwin and about west of the municipal seat in Alice Springs. The locality consists of the following land (from north to south): the Lake Mackay Aboriginal Land Trust, the Mount Doreen Station pastoral property, the former Newhaven Station pastoral property and the western part of the Haasts Bluff Aboriginal Land Trust. It fully surrounds the localities of Kintore and Nyirripi. The Tanami Road passes through the locality from Yuendumu in the south to the north-west via Mount Dooreen Station on its way to Halls Creek. The locality’s boundaries and name were gazetted on 4 April 2007. Its name is derived from Lake Mackay, the “intermittent lake feature on the Northern Territory/Western Australian border” which is located within the locality’s bound ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hills
A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct summit. Terminology The distinction between a hill and a mountain is unclear and largely subjective, but a hill is universally considered to be not as tall, or as steep as a mountain. Geographers historically regarded mountains as hills greater than above sea level, which formed the basis of the plot of the 1995 film ''The Englishman who Went up a Hill but Came down a Mountain''. In contrast, hillwalkers have tended to regard mountains as peaks above sea level. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' also suggests a limit of and Whittow states "Some authorities regard eminences above as mountains, those below being referred to as hills." Today, a mountain is usually defined in the UK and Ireland as any summit at least high, while the official UK government's definition of a mountain is a summit of or higher. Some definitions include a topographical prominence requirement, typically o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marsupial Mole
Marsupial moles, the Notoryctidae , are highly specialized marsupial mammals, known from two species found at the Australian interior. * ''Notoryctes typhlops'' (southern marsupial mole, known as the ''itjaritjari'' by the Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara people in Central Australia). * ''Notoryctes caurinus'' (northern marsupial mole, also known as the ''kakarratul'') Notoryctids are small, fossorial mammals that anatomically converge on other fossorial (and distantly related) mammals, such as living golden moles (Chrysochloridae) and extinct epoicotheres (Pholidota). Characteristics In an example of convergent evolution, notoryctids resemble (and fill the ecological niche of) moles from North America and Eurasia and golden moles from Southern Africa. Like chrysochlorids and epoicotheres, notoryctids use their forelimbs and enlarged central claws to dig in a parasagittal (i.e., up and down) plane, as opposed to the "lateral scratch" style of digging that characterizes talpi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greater Bilby
The greater bilby (''Macrotis lagotis''), often referred to simply as the bilby since the lesser bilby (''Macrotis leucura'') became extinct in the 1950s, is an Australian species of nocturnal omnivorous animal in the order Peramelemorphia. Other vernacular names include dalgyte, pinkie, or rabbit-eared bandicoot. Greater bilbies live in arid parts of northwestern and central Australia. Their range and population is in decline. Etymology and other names The term ''bilby'' is a loan word from the Yuwaalaraay Aboriginal language of northern New South Wales, meaning long-nosed rat. It is also known as ''dalgyte'' in Western Australia by the Noongar people. The Wiradjuri of New South Wales also call it ''bilby''. Other names include pinkie and rabbit-eared bandicoot. Taxonomy Nomenclature A scientific description of the greater bilby was first published in 1837 by a Mr J. Reid. Reid based his description on a specimen that he erroneously stated to have come from Van Diemen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mulgara
Mulgaras are the two small rat-sized species in the genus ''Dasycercus''. They are marsupial carnivores, closely related to the Tasmanian devil and the quolls, that live in deserts and spinifex grasslands of arid Australia. They are nocturnal, but occasionally "sunbathe" in the entrance of the burrow in which they dwell. Their kidneys are highly developed to excrete extremely concentrated urine to preserve water, as the animals rarely drink. They feed mostly on insects, but also eat reptiles and small mammals. They are seasonal breeders breed from June to September. The pouch comprises two lateral folds of skin. Recent research has shown two distinct species, which are very similar. The brush-tailed mulgara (''D. blythi'', previously classified as ''D.cristicauda''), has an uncrested tail, two upper premolars, and six nipples. The crest-tailed mulgara (previously ''D. hillieri'', but now reclassified as ''D. cristicauda'') has a crested tail, three upper premolars, and eight ni ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grey Honeyeater
The grey honeyeater (''Conopophila whitei'') is a species of bird in the honeyeater family. It is an uncommon and little-known bird, an often overlooked endemic of remote areas in central Australia. Taxonomy Currently placed as a species of the genus ''Conopophila'' and classified within the honeyeater family Meliphagidae, ''Conopophila whitei'' was first described by A. J. North in 1910 as ''Lacustroica whitei''. The population continued to be assigned to a monotypic genus ''Lacustroica'', or as most closely related to two other species, the rufous-banded ('' Conopophila rufogularis'') and rufous-throated ('' C. albogularis'') honeyeaters. The species was found by F. Lawson Whitlock in 1903 at Lake Austin in Western Australia, but no formal description was made. The two specimens he shot and prepared were sent to the Western Australian Museum, about which he received no reply. At the beginning of his later expedition, in 1909, Whitlock killed and skinned a male of the species ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Striated Grasswren
The striated grasswren (''Amytornis striatus'') is a small, cryptically coloured ground-dwelling species of wren-like bird in the family Maluridae, endemic to Australia. It occupies a large discontinuous range across arid and semi-arid areas of western, central and southern Australia where it is associated with spinifex ('' Triodia'') grass. Description The striated grasswren is one of 13 species in the genus ''Amytornis'', commonly known as the grasswrens, found only in arid and semi-arid areas of Australia. All are small cryptic birds with long, usually cocked-tails, characterised by diagnostic distinctive interscapular gap in the feathering,Higgins, P. J.; Peter, J. M.; Steele, W. K. 2001. Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds: Tyrant-flycatchers to Chats. Oxford University Press, Oxford. an enlarged auditory bulla (tympanic chambers) and ten rectrices. The striated grasswren is a slim, long-tailed grasswren with a slender pointed bill. The plumage is hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Princess Parrot
The colourful princess parrot (''Polytelis alexandrae'') is an Australian bird of the parrot family. Its name was given in honour of Princess Alexandra of Denmark, who in 1863 married the Prince of Wales Edward VII and eventually became Queen of the United Kingdom. Other names for the species include: Queen Alexandra parrot (or parakeet), Alexandra's parakeet, Princess of Wales parakeet, rose-throated parakeet, and spinifex parrot. Their plumage is mostly green with a pink throat, bluish crown and rump, and bright green shoulders. Description The princess parrot is a medium-sized parrot, 34 to 46 cm long and weighing between 110 and 120 g. The plumage is mostly green with a pink throat, bluish crown, and bright green shoulders. The rump is blue and the tail is long and narrow. The males have longer tail feathers and brighter coloring than females. The male also has a coral-red beak, while the female's is duller and has a greyish crown. Another difference is that the ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Night Parrot
The night parrot (''Pezoporus occidentalis'') is a small parrot endemic to the continent of Australia. It has also been known as porcupine parrot, nocturnal ground parakeet, midnight cockatoo, solitaire, spinifex parrot and night parakeet. It is one of the most elusive and mysterious birds in the world, with no confirmed sightings of the bird between 1912 and 1979, leading to speculation that it was extinct. Sightings since 1979 have been extremely rare and the bird's population size is unknown, though based on the paucity of records it is thought to number between 50 and 249 mature individuals, and it is classified by the IUCN as an endangered species. A few sightings or recordings of its presence, with varying degrees of certainty, have occurred in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, south-western Queensland, the Lake Eyre basin in South Australia and the Northern Territory. However, some of the evidence produced by wildlife photographer John Young has been called into qu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grey Falcon
The grey falcon (''Falco hypoleucos'') is a medium-sized falcon native to Australia, possibly the rarest. It is uncommon throughout its range and is currently classified as Vulnerable. Taxonomy The description of the species was published by John Gould, based on a specimen obtained from Lockier Burges, a pastoralist at York, Western Australia, who provided it to the collector John Gilbert. Gould's description was issued in the fifth volume (1841) of ''Birds of Australia'', and was accompanied by a lithograph produced by Elizabeth Gould, rendered shortly before her early death. The specimen obtained from Burges, mentioned in Gilbert's report of September 1839, was later revealed to be an immature bird when another specimen was shot by Gilbert in 1842. This bird, found 60 kilometres north of Moore River, was larger and paler than the first Gilbert had supplied, and although he thought it may be an older bird he hopefully noted it as a possible new species. The explorer Charles ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Threatened Species
Threatened species are any species (including animals, plants and fungi) which are vulnerable to endangerment in the near future. Species that are threatened are sometimes characterised by the population dynamics measure of '' critical depensation'', a mathematical measure of biomass related to population growth rate. This quantitative metric is one method of evaluating the degree of endangerment. IUCN definition The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is the foremost authority on threatened species, and treats threatened species not as a single category, but as a group of three categories, depending on the degree to which they are threatened: *Vulnerable species * Endangered species * Critically endangered species Less-than-threatened categories are near threatened, least concern, and the no longer assigned category of conservation dependent. Species which have not been evaluated (NE), or do not have sufficient data ( data deficient) also are not consid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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