The Living Things of Australia Quiz

Answer: Bandicoot

The bandicoots are a group of small marsupials that use their long snouts as an aid to get food -insects and larvae. They dig with their front legs and paws and jump with their rear legs. Like other marsupials, the bandicoot are born in an undeveloped stage (even though there is a small placenta) and spend part of their childhood in the mother's pouch.

The echidna and platypus are monotreme mammals (laying eggs). The dingo is a placental mammal (giving birth to live young).

Answer: Emu

The emu is a flightless bird that can reach up to six feet (183 cm) in height, due in part to its long thin legs. Though the emu cannot fly, it can run at speeds up to 30 mph just under 50 kph). They are relatively common in the wild in Australia. Emus are most active during the day and have a fairly varied diet including insects, grasses, and leaves.

The ostrich is typically seen in Africa in the wild. The kiwi would be found in the wild in New Zealand. The moa is an extinct flightless bird.

Answer: Yes

Believe it or not, the Tasmanian devil is a real creature, though it doesn't particularly look like its cartoon counterpart. It is about the size of a small dog and is a carnivorous marsupial. Most new born devils do not survive long as the female has only four nipples but may give birth to 20-30 live young at once. Adult males tend to be a bit larger than adult females.

Answer: Frogs

All species of native Australian amphibians are members of the order Anura and are therefore frogs. Climate plays an important role in how the various species are introduced. Several species going extinct led to increased efforts of conservation beginning in the 1980s. Frogs are more commonly found closer to the coast as opposed to the drier interior.

Perhaps the best known amphibian in Australia, the cane toad, was introduced by humans in the 1930s to combat pests.

Answer: Freshwater Crocodile

The freshwater crocodile is somewhat smaller than the saltwater crocodile although still rather large. Adult males usually reach at least seven feet (two metres) and weigh over 150 pounds (70 kg). Saltwater crocodiles (the ones more likely to attack people) are larger with adult males sometimes reaching 20 feet (six metres) and weighing over 2,000 pounds (900 kg). Both are usually found in the wild in the northern parts of Australia.

Answer: Queensland

The Great Barrier Reef, the world's largest coral reef, stretches for about 1,400 miles and is found off the coast of Queensland. The reef was built by many tiny coral polyps. The coral is a small invertebrate that creates an exoskeleton around itself--millions of coral doing this forms a reef. In addition, representatives of hundreds of other species live in or near the reef.

Answer: Tasmanian tiger

Related to the Tasmanian devil, the Tasmanian tiger had stripes similar to various tiger species found in Asia. About the size of a mid-sized dog, the thylacine was also a marsupial. It was considered to be an apex predator, meaning that it was not hunted by other animals.

The last known Tasmanian tiger died in captivity in 1936. The thylacine was also sometimes referred to as the Tasmanian wolf.

Answer: Human laughter

Recordings of the laughter-like call of the kookaburra are used as stock footage in many, especially older, films. Kookaburras are found in both Australia and New Guinea. Adult kookaburras are approximately 18 inches (46 cm) long and weigh about 11 ounces (310 g). Their diet is carnivorous, including small reptiles and mammals, and the young of other bird species.

Answer: Freshwater fish

The Murray cod (Maccullochella peelii) is found in the rivers of the Murray-Darling basin of south-eastern Australia. It is not related to the codfish of the Northern hemisphere. The fish can reach three feet (around one metre) or more in length. It is considered an apex predator.

A popular fish for commercial fishermen in the 1800s and 1900s, it has been the focus of some conservation efforts more recently.

Answer: It sleeps more than two-thirds of the average day

The koala is a relatively sedentary animal that sleeps as much as twenty out of the twenty-four hours of the day. The reason for this is that leaves from the eucalyptus trees which make up much of its diet have a relatively low nutritional value. Apart from mothers with dependent young, koalas lead mostly solitary lives.