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Bush Rat
The bush rat or Australian bush rat (''Rattus fuscipes'') (Zak) is a small Australian nocturnal animal. It is an omnivore and one of the most common indigenous species of rat on the continent, found in many heathland areas of Victoria and New South Wales. Taxonomy The description of the species by G. R. Waterhouse was published in the second part of the series '' Zoology of the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle'', edited by Charles Darwin. The species was assigned to the genus '' Mus'', a once broader classification, and later placed with the genus ''Rattus''. The collection of the type specimen was made when HMS ''Beagle'' was anchored at King George Sound, a port at the southwest of the continent. The capture was noted by Darwin as "caught in a trap baited with cheese, amongst the bushes ...". The type locality has been determined as Little Grove, Western Australia, south of Mount Melville in the city of Albany. The population is regarded as the ''fuscipes'' species group, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Robert Waterhouse
George Robert Waterhouse (6 March 1810 – 21 January 1888) was an English natural history, naturalist. He was a keeper at the department of geology and later curator of the Zoological Society of London's museum. Early life George was born in Somers Town to James Edward Waterhouse and Mary Newman. His father was a solicitor's clerk and an amateur entomologist. He was the brother of Frederick George Waterhouse, who also became a zoologist. George went to school at Koekelberg, near Brussels. He returned to England in 1824 and worked as an apprentice to an architect. Part of the work was in designing the garden of Charles Knight in the Vale of Health, Hampstead and the ornamentation for St. Dunstan's Church. Natural history George became interested in entomology through his father and he founded the Entomological Society of London along with Frederick William Hope in 1833 with himself as honorary curator. He became its president in 1849–50. He wrote articles for Knight's ''P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nocturnal
Nocturnality is a ethology, behavior in some non-human animals characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnality, diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatures generally have highly developed senses of hearing (sense), hearing, olfaction, smell, and specially adapted eyesight. Some animals, such as ferrets, have eyes that can adapt to both low-level and bright day levels of illumination (see metaturnal). Others, such as bushbaby, bushbabies and (some) bats, can function only at night. Many nocturnal creatures including tarsier, tarsiers and some owl, owls have large eyes in comparison with their body size to compensate for the lower light levels at night. More specifically, they have been found to have a larger cornea relative to their eye size than diurnal creatures to increase their : in the low-light conditions. Nocturnality helps wasps, such as ''Apoica flavissima'', avoid hunting in intens ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Zoology Of The Voyage Of H
''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the most frequently used word in the English language; studies and analyses of texts have found it to account for seven percent of all printed English-language words. It is derived from gendered articles in Old English which combined in Middle English and now has a single form used with nouns of any gender. The word can be used with both singular and plural nouns, and with a noun that starts with any letter. This is different from many other languages, which have different forms of the definite article for different genders or numbers. Pronunciation In most dialects, "the" is pronounced as (with the voiced dental fricative followed by a schwa) when followed by a consonant sound, and as (homophone of the archaic pronoun ''thee'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cyperaceae
The Cyperaceae () are a family of graminoid (grass-like), monocotyledonous flowering plants known as wikt:sedge, sedges. The family (biology), family is large; botanists have species description, described some 5,500 known species in about 90 genus, generathe largest being the "true wikt:sedge, sedges" (genus ''Carex''), with over 2,000 species. Distribution Cyperaceae species are widely distributed with the centers of diversity for the group occurring in tropical Asia and tropical South America. While sedges grow in almost all environments, many thrive in wetlands or in poor soils. Community (ecology), Ecological communities dominated by sedges are known as s or as sedge meadows. Classification Some species superficially resemble the closely related Juncaceae , rushes and the more distantly related grasses. Features distinguishing members of the sedge family from grasses or rushes are stems with triangular cross-sections (with occasional exceptions, a notable example be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Predation
Predation is a biological interaction in which one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common List of feeding behaviours, feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill the Host (biology), host) and parasitoidism (which always does, eventually). It is distinct from Scavenger, scavenging on dead prey, though many predators also scavenge; it overlaps with Herbivore, herbivory, as Seed predation, seed predators and destructive frugivores are predators. Predation behavior varies significantly depending on the organism. Many predators, especially carnivores, have evolved distinct hunting strategy, hunting strategies. Pursuit predation involves the active search for and pursuit of prey, whilst ambush predation, ambush predators instead wait for prey to present an opportunity for capture, and often use stealth or aggressive mimicry. Other predators are opportunism, opportunistic or om ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Introduced Species
An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived there by human activity, directly or indirectly, and either deliberately or accidentally. Non-native species can have various effects on the local ecosystem. Introduced species that become established and spread beyond the place of introduction are considered naturalized. The process of human-caused introduction is distinguished from biological colonization, in which species spread to new areas through "natural" (non-human) means such as storms and rafting. The Latin expression neobiota captures the characteristic that these species are ''new'' biota to their environment in terms of established biological network (e.g. food web) relationships. Neobiota can further be divided into neozoa (also: neozoons, sing. neozoon, i.e. animals) and ne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cats In Australia
Cats (''Felis catus''), initially introduced into Australia with the First Fleet in 1788, now number more than 11 million distributed across more than 90% of the continent including every major island. They are the second most popular pet by household (third most populous overall after pet dog, dogs and pet fish, fish). In 2023 there were 5.3 million kept as pets of which approximately 95% are Neutering, neutered. In addition there are estimated to be up to 6 million feral cats found in almost every remote area across the country. Cats are considered by the CSIRO to be the most damaging invasive species in Australia, invasive pest by cost [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Red Foxes In Australia
Red foxes pose a serious conservation problem in Australia. 2012 estimates indicate that there are more than 7.2 million red foxes (''Vulpes vulpes'') (and growing), with a range extending throughout most of the continental mainland. The species became established in Australia through successive introductions, by settlers, beginning around the 1830s. Due to its rapid spread and ecological impact, it has been classified as one of the most damaging invasive species in Australia. Introduction and spread European red foxes were introduced to the British colonies of Van Diemen's Land as early as 1833, and to the Port Phillip District and Sydney Regions of New South Wales as early as 1845; introductions were, originally, intended to uphold the traditional English sport of fox hunting. Curiously, prior to 2010, a permanent fox population was not established on the island of Tasmania, and it is widely held that they were outcompeted by the Tasmanian devil and the now-extinct thylacin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sclerophyll Forest
Sclerophyll is a type of vegetation that is adapted to long periods of dryness and heat. The plants feature hard leaves, short internodes (the distance between leaves along the stem) and leaf orientation which is parallel or oblique to direct sunlight. Sclerophyllous plants occur in many parts of the world, but are most typical of areas with low rainfall or seasonal droughts, such as Australia, Africa, and western North and South America. They are prominent throughout Australia, parts of Argentina, the Cerrado biogeographic region of Bolivia, Paraguay and Brazil, and in the Mediterranean biomes that cover the Mediterranean Basin, California, Chile, and the Cape Province of South Africa. In the Mediterranean basin, holm oak, cork oak and olives are typical hardwood trees. In addition, there are several species of pine under the trees in the vegetation zone. The shrub layer contains numerous herbs such as rosemary, thyme and lavender. In relation to the potential natural veg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kangaroo Island
Kangaroo Island (, ) is Australia's third-largest island, after Tasmania and Melville Island, Northern Territory, Melville Island. It lies in the state of South Australia, southwest of Adelaide. Its closest point to the mainland is Snapper Point in Backstairs Passage, which is from the Fleurieu Peninsula. The native population of Aboriginal Australians that once occupied the island (sometimes referred to as the Kartan people) disappeared from the archaeological record sometime after the land became an island following the sea level rise, rising sea levels associated with the Last Glacial Period around 10,000 years ago. It was subsequently settled intermittently by sealers and whalers in the early 19th century, and from 1836 on a permanent basis during the British colonisation of South Australia. Since then the island's economy has been principally agricultural, with a Jasus edwardsii, southern rock lobster fishery and with tourism growing in importance. The largest town, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Australian Alps
The Australian Alps are a mountain range in southeast Australia. The range comprises an Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia, interim Australian bioregion,IBRA Version 6.1 data and is the highest mountain range in Australia. The range straddles the borders of eastern Victoria (Australia), Victoria, southeastern New South Wales, and the Australian Capital Territory. It contains Australia's only peaks exceeding in elevation, and is the only bioregion on the Australian mainland in which deep Snow in Australia, snow falls annually. The range comprises an area of . The Australian Alps are part of the Great Dividing Range, the series of mountain and hill ranges and tablelands that runs about from northern Queensland, through New South Wales, and into the northern part of Victoria ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
