4/19/2008

More on our strange wildlife and some history






We have two mammals here that lay eggs no you say with disbelief; you are wrong we do, one is the Echidna which a lot of Brits insist is like a Hedgehog or some Americans who will say yes like our porcupine.

It seems that blogger is acting up again I am fed up of uploading the image of the Echidna it just won't show up, now it is showing two of them, thank you blogspot very much I don't think

Both are wrong they are Monotremes who lay eggs, does a hedgehog or porcupine lay an egg, no they do not as we all know.

There is a very good reason for this strange quirk of nature down here in the southern hemisphere, we were isolated for millennia.

This makes for some very strange animals indeed, some still live in Papua New Guinea.

New Zealand, Antarctica and India of course were countries that were spawned out of part of the land mass called Gondwana in the cretaceous period of this ancient earth, a very long time ago.

I digress, back to our two Monotremes the pair of them are very shy creatures I have seen them mainly the Echidna as at nightfall they tend to run across our roads.

Mind you the Echidna is seen a lot more these days in city suburbs no less, scavenging for food I suppose

The Platypus is rarely seen a nocturnal animal who lives in creeks dams or as Europeans would say rivers or streams and ponds.

Male Platypuses are venomous by the way Platypuses use electroception to locate prey by detecting electrical fields. This is a very rare stunt among mammals.

There are about three or four species of Echidna, Echidnas are small mammals that are covered with coarse hair and spines. Superficially they resemble the anteaters of South America, and other spiny mammals like hedgehogs and porcupines. They have snouts which have the functions of both the mouth and nose. Their snouts are elongated and slender. They have very short, strong limbs with large claws and are powerful diggers. Echidnas have a tiny mouth and a toothless jaw. They feed by tearing open soft logs, anthills and the like, and use their long, sticky tongue which protrudes from their snout to collect their prey. The Short-beaked Echidna's diet consists largely of ants and termites, while the other species typically eat worms and insect larvae.

The long-nosed Echidna has tiny spines on its tongue that helps capture its meals.

Here is an image of the Platypus below


This country has been occupied by aboriginals for at least 50,000 years; some tribes speak a mixture of Malay, as they were regular visitors to our shores long before Captain Dampier spotted this place.

Tobacco was smoked here long before Sir Walter Raleigh introduced it to England from Virginia America, it was probably smoked in Virginia by Indian tribes long before any white man appeared on the scene.

First Humans in Australia Dated to 50,000 Years Ago

Analysis of sediments at two grave sites at Lake Mungo confirms that Australia is the site of the world's oldest known burial with red ochre and the oldest cremation, and provides additional evidence that early humans first reached Australia about 50,000 years ago.

Info on the first humans Courtesy of National Geographic


Makes one think huh and I was taught that life started on this earth around five or six thousand years ago as were most of us.

Comments most welcome