by Peter Rowland | Tuesday, October 27, 2020
File Snakes (Family: Acrochordidae) File snakes are totally aquatic fish-eating snakes, characterised by their loose, baggy skin covered with coarse scales. File snakes produce live young. Two species are found in Australia. The Arafura File Snake (Acrochordus...
by Peter Rowland | Sunday, November 1, 2020
Fishes There are about 28,000 existing species of fish, and they are placed in five different classes. The classes are commonly referred to as hagfish, lampreys, cartilaginous fish, ray-finned fish, and lobe-finned fish. Fish range in size from the 14m whale shark to...
by Peter Rowland | Monday, October 19, 2020
Flies, Mosquitoes and Gnats (Order: Diptera) A large order, with 112 families and just under 9,000 species found in Australia. All have a single pair of membranous forewings, the hindwings are reduced to small ‘club-like’ appendages called halteres, which act as...
by Peter Rowland | Wednesday, October 21, 2020
Frigatebirds (Family Fregatidae) Five species of these large seabirds, with long, pointed wings and long outer tail feather occur worldwide. Three species to breed in Australia, the Lesser Frigatebird Fregata ariel, Great Frigatebird F. minor and Christmas Island...
by Peter Rowland | Monday, October 19, 2020
Frogmouths (Family: Podargidae) These nocturnal birds rely on their cryptic plumage for camouflage against intruders. The widespread Tawny Frogmouth Podargus strigoides is endemic. Both the Marbled Frogmouth P. ocellatus and the Papuan Frogmouth P. papuensis are also...
