Questions 1.7

1.     Australia has been an isolated continent for about 50 million years, so the fauna and flora have evolved differently than other species around the world.

2.     Many of the species have survived for millions of years due to the stability of the environment.

3.     Endemic means something that is not found anywhere else in the world.

4.     89 percent of Australian reptiles are endemic.

5.     The Great Barrier Reef, The Tropical Rainforest and the South-west Botanical Province of Western Australia

6.     The Tropical Rainforest

7.     Marsupials are mammals that have pouches. Example, Kangaroo

8.     Monotremes are egg laying mammals . Example, Duck Billed Platypus

9.     The only real difference between the Kangaroo and the Wallaby is that wallabies are smaller and enjoy rugged terrain, while kangaroos prefer large grassy plains.

10. Platypus' are one of the most unusual animals found in Australia. They spend around 12 hours a day swimming and looking for food, and the remainder in burrows that they dig in river banks close to water level. The female Platypus lays around 2-3 eggs in the burrow. They have a very sensitive bill that they use to detect prey and have two nostrils at the top of the bill for taking breaths when in water.

11.  

The name waratah comes the Eora Aborigines

Spirally arranged leaves, 10-20cm long

Has large red flowerheads, 6-15cm in diameter

Waratahs are popular but difficult to grow

There are some hybrids of the waratah, such as one that have creamy white or pink flowers instead of the traditional red.

These results show how different and diverse Australia is. Both these places are in the state, but are wildly different. My graphs show the difference between the species living in The Great Barrier Reef and The Tropical Rainforest. It shows that many different species live in many different environments and areas, even some you didn't expect.215 different species of birds live in and around the Great Barrier Reef and 58% of all Bat species in Australia live in the Rainforest. These results surprised me as I thought they would be hanging around much different environments, like caves for bats

THE TROPICAL RAINFOREST

Ferns	Butterfly’s	Bats	Freshwater Fish	Mammals	Frogs	Cycad	Birds
65% in Australia	60% in Australia	58% in Australia	37% in Australia	36% in Australia	27% in Australia	21% in Australia	50% in Australia
Conifers		Orchids		Amphibians		Reptiles
37% in Australia		30% in Australia		23% in Australia		17% in Australia

 GREAT BARRIER REEF

MOLLUSCS	SEAWEED	SPONGES	SEA SNAKES	FISH	CORALS	BIRDS	SEA TURTLES
4000	500	400	10	1500	400	215	6