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Where does the Tasmanian devil store fat?

Mammals - Australasian Mammals

Kangaroos, koalas, echidnas, and more, Australasian mammals are famous for pouches and odd features. Learn how their habitats and diets shape their lives.

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Fascinating Fact

Wombats are sturdy, burrowing marsupials, and their cube-shaped droppings can help stop them rolling away on slopes.

Australasian mammals include marsupials, like kangaroos and koalas, and monotremes, like echidnas and platypuses. Many are adapted to tough conditions, such as heat, drought, and bushfires, with features like powerful hopping legs, climbing claws, or night-time activity to avoid daytime extremes.

Key Terms

Marsupial: A mammal whose young usually develop in a pouch after birth.
Monotreme: An egg-laying mammal, such as the platypus or echidna.
Nocturnal: Active mainly at night, often to feed or travel when it is cooler.

Frequently Asked Questions (Click to see answers)

What is meant by Australasian mammals?

Australasian mammals are mammals native to Australia, New Zealand, and nearby islands, including marsupials, monotremes, and some placental mammals like bats and seals.

What is the difference between a marsupial and a placental mammal?

Marsupials usually give birth to tiny young that develop further in a pouch, while placental mammals develop for longer inside the mother and are born more developed.

Which mammals lay eggs in Australia?

The egg-laying mammals in Australia are monotremes, which include the platypus and echidnas.

Try These Related Quizzes

To see a larger image, click on the picture.

1 .

The world's first confirmed identical twin koalas were born in 1999 at the University of Queensland. What were they named?

Photograph courtesy of PatrickGarmoe

Lano and Woodley

Jason and Kylie

Euca and Lyptus

Sleepy and Lazy

Order: Diprotodontia
Family: Phascolarctidae
Genus: Phascolarctos
Species: P. cinereus
A much-loved and easily identified mammal native to Australia.
Although 'koala bear' is still used, the koala is in fact not a bear.
Koala fossils dating 20 million years ago have been found.

2 .

Captain Cook arrived back in England in 1771 with a kangaroo on board. What was the name of his ship?

Photograph courtesy of Paul Mannix

HMS Endeavour

HMS Resolution

HMS Exploration

HMS Bravado

Order: Diprotodontia
Family: Macropodidae
Genus: Macropus
A kangaroo can hop at up to 60 kmh (40 mph).
It can also leap over obstacles up to 3 m (10 ft) high.
Because of the unusual shape of its legs and its bulky tail a kangaroo can't walk or move backwards very easily.

3 .

How many native predators of the possum are there in New Zealand?

Photograph courtesy of Adam.J.W.C.

None

Class: Mammalia
Infraclass: Marsupialia
Order: Diprotodontia
Suborder: Phalangeriformes
Native to Australia and New Guinea, introduced to New Zealand.
Numbers are so large in New Zealand, it is now considered a pest.
Some species have adapted to an urban environment.
The common ringtail possum (pictured) eats a special type of faeces.
This behaviour is called coprophagia and is similar to that seen in rabbits.

4 .

Since 2005 there has been an unofficial holiday called Wombat Day. On what date does it occur?

Photograph courtesy of JJ Harrison

22 April

22 June

22 August

22 October

Order: Diprotodontia
Family: Vombatidae
A wombat burrow can be as long as 20 metres.
Wombats are adept at digging complicated tunnels with their strong legs and sharp claws.
The entrance to the female wombat's pouch faces backwards.
This is to prevent dirt from entering it when it is burrowing.

It is at the beginning of the traditional aboriginal spring planting season

5 .

What is the dingo also known as?

Photograph courtesy of Henry Whitehead

Bush dog

Red wolf

Warrigal

Bush wolf

Order: Carnivora
Family: Canidae
Genus: Canis
Species: C. lupus
A wild dog only found in Australia, predominantly in the outback.
They are able to react to social cues and gestures from humans, something that wolves cannot do.
The diet is massively varied - up to 170 species have been identified.

6 .

Can you identify this Australasian mammal?

Photograph courtesy of JJ Harrison

Eastern Barred Bandicoot

Rakali

Northern Quoll

Bush Rat

Order: Peramelemorphia
Family: Peramelidae
Genus: Perameles
Species: P. gunnii
A nocturnal marsupial which is a Near Threatened species.
The gestation period is only 12 days - one of the shortest of any mammal.
In perfect conditions, females can have up to five litters per year.

7 .

The short-beaked Echidna is a monotreme. What does this mean?

Photograph courtesy of JJ Harrison

It sheds skin

It lays eggs

It lives on land and in water

It only lives for one year

Order: Monotremata
Family: Tachyglossidae
Genus: Tachyglossus
Species: T. aculeatus
Also called the spiny anteater.
Has the ability to swim and uses the snout rather like a snorkel.
Its stomach has low levels of acidity which is rare in mammals.

The monotremes are the only group of mammals to do so

8 .

What is the name of a baby Spectacled Flying Fox?

Photograph courtesy of http://www.thinkoholic.com/

Cub

Pup

Foxlet

Batlet

Order: Chiroptera
Family: Pteropodidae
Genus: Pteropus
Species: P. conspicillatus
Also known as the Spectacled Fruit Bat
Found in New Guinea and Queensland.
Their habitat is forests, especially rainforests.
Youngsters get together in nursery trees in the colony.
They fly out for increasing distances with the colony at night and are 'parked' in nursery trees, often kilometres distant from the colony, and are brought back to the colony in the morning.

9 .

Where does the Tasmanian devil store fat?

Photograph courtesy of www.waynemclean.com/

Tail

Neck

Hind legs

Shoulders

Order: Dasyuromorphia
Family: Dasyuridae
Genus: Sarcophilus
Species: Sarcophilus harrisii
In the wild, found only in Tasmania.
Is the largest carnivorous marsupial in the world.
The Tasmanian devil's large head and neck allow it to generate the strongest bite per unit body mass of any living mammal.

A fat tail means a healthy devil!

10 .

Since the introduction of decimal currency to Australia in 1966, the embossed image of a platypus has appeared on the tail side of which coin?

Photograph courtesy of www.flickr.com/photos/salim/

5 cent

10 cent

20 cent

50 cent

Order: Monotremata
Family: Ornithorhynchidae
Genus: Ornithorhynchus
Species: O. anatinus
Due to its strange appearance, the platypus perplexed European naturalists when they first clapped eyes on it.
It was even thought to be an elaborate fraud!
Can release venom, which is rare in mammals.