Australia used to be part of Gondwana, a huge landmass that also included India, South America, Africa and Antartica. When it began to break up 120 million years ago into separate continents, Australia became isolated for about 35 million years until it collided again with the Asian plate.
By this time a unique fauna had developed and majority of the animals found here evolved and became native to Australia.
Here are just some of the unique animals endemic to Australia.
Found in coastal regions of eastern and southern Australia, the Koala is a mammal that looks like the wombat but has thicker coat, longer limbs and bigger ears. Although it is not a bear but an arboreal herbivorous marsupial, the koala is often referred to as koala bear.Image: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/49/Koala_climbing_tree.jpg/610px-Koala_climbing_tree.jpgDAVID ILIFFQuolls are small marsupial carnivores of about 60 cms in length on average. They are furred creatures that feed on small animals, plants, lizards, birds, insects, fruit and carrion (dead animals).Image: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SpottedQuoll_2005_SeanMcClean.jpgOriginal uploader was SeanMackThe kangaroo is a marsupial from the family Macropodidae.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UBlue-tongued lizards are the largest members of the skink family (Scincidae). Skink lizards have overlapping scales that are usually smooth and contain small plates of bone. More than 300 species of skinks exist in Australia.Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/petegaylard/4031893144/sizes/z/in/photostream/Snapper's PicsThe Tasmanian devil is a carnivorous marsupial of the family Dasyuridae now found in the wild only in the Australian island state of Tasmania. A type of facial cancer is threatening to wipe out the population.
Wayne McLean ( jgritz)
