The only way to find many of Australia’s animals is to visit Down Under– or, beginning December 16, 2005 – to walk through their recreated habitat in Animal Planet Australia: Wild Extremes at the National Aquarium in Baltimore.
Many of the Australian species that will call the Aquarium home have amazing stories of adaptation and survival over millions of years in the land of drought, fire and flood.
Grey-headed flying fox
These large, dog-like bats live in large colonies or "camps" consisting of one male with up to eight females. While these mammals are agile, acrobatic fliers, their landings are another story! Large fruit bats often crash into bushes or trees to come to a stop, or they try to latch onto branches as they pass by. Sometimes these crash-landings disturb others at the site, causing noisy fights.
The adult diet consists of a variety of fruits and flowers, which are crushed between flat molars or between the tongue and the rigid palate. Large numbers of flying foxes are shot by farmers because of the damage they sometimes cause to fruit crops. However, the elimination of these bats would have devastating effects on Australian forests since flying foxes are the main seed dispersers for many native tree species.
Freshwater crocodile
This slender-snouted crocodile is only found in the rivers and billabongs of northern Australia. Reaching a maximum length of 10 feet, they have a varied diet of insects, crustaceans, fish, reptiles, bats and even wallabies. Eggs are laid in nests excavated in riverside sand banks and hatch at the beginning of the wet season. Mothers protect their young throughout that season.
The dry season is stressful for “freshies,” when large congregations live in the few existing permanent water holes and river pools. And hikers beware – unlike most crocodilians, they move very rapidly on land by using a gallop-type style of locomotion.
Snake-necked turtles
Snake-necked turtles have exceptionally long necks that can be even longer than their shells. Seven species, including a newly described one, occur in Australia. Their eyes are forward in their heads with overlapping fields of vision to create excellent depth perception, allowing them to ambush active prey (fish and crustaceans). Snake-necks hunt by striking accurately and engulfing prey whole; their long necks create vacuums that suck in water and prey.
The northern snake-necked turtle is the only known turtle to dig a nest and lay its eggs underwater, at the beginning of the dry season.
Rainbowfish
Many species of these small, iridescent fishes live in the tropical rivers of northern Australia. Males initiate spawning by flashing vivid colors that attract females. These fish are highly prized by home aquarists as they are hardy and breed readily. The eastern rainbowfish are sometimes observed in large shoals below small waterfalls and rapids. Like many of the “top end” fishes, they have adapted to live in very warm water with temperatures of up to 90 degrees Fahrenheit.
Barramundi
This delicious fish is found on menus throughout Australia and is the country’s most important commercial species. Barramundi grow to six feet long and up to 130 pounds. A top aquatic predator, it feeds mainly on other fish, crustaceans and insects. Young grow to maturity in the upper freshwater areas of rivers and then move downstream to the salty river mouths and coastal shallows to spawn during the wet season. Barramundi begin life as males and change sex to females once they reach about seven years of age.
Laughing kookaburra
The laughing kookaburra is Australia’s national bird, and because of its loud call and large size, it’s also one of the continent’s most familiar birds. Most of the day is spent on high branches or posts overlooking rainforest clearings or disturbed agricultural areas where they swoop on small snakes, lizards or frogs. They kill prey by bashing it against a tree branch or rock. These territorial birds live in groups of three or four, consisting of a breeding pair and helpers. The helpers are generally male and aid in nesting duties and in territorial defense.
This bird’s unique call has been used in numerous movie soundtracks, including the early Tarzan films.
Australian lungfish
These odd-looking, lobed-finned fish grow to more than four feet long and weigh up to 100 pounds. During droughts, when oxygen levels reach dangerously low levels in stagnant river water, lungfish breathe air gulped directly at the surface. They supplement their oxygen supply by using a lung-like swim bladder during these stressful seasonal climate changes.
Millions of years ago when Australia had a wetter environment, seven different lungfish species were widely distributed throughout the continent. This relic species is the sole surviving member of its family and is found naturally in only two rivers. Fossils closely resembling this fish have been discovered in New South Wales; this evidence indicates the species has survived unchanged for 100 million years, making it one of the oldest living vertebrate species.
Pignose turtle
The pignose turtle is the sole surviving member of a once globally distributed family. This totally aquatic species grows up to a 22-inch shell length and weighs up to 50 pounds. Sea turtle-like front flippers facilitate fast swimming. They deposit between seven and 19 eggs in nests dug in sand banks exposed during the dry season. Hatching occurs just as the rising waters of the wet season come in contact with the
fully developed eggs. Aboriginal rock paintings of the pignose in Australia date back more than 7,000 years, though scientists did not find the animal there until 1970.
Rainbow lorikeet
Visitors will spot flocks of these brightly colored, noisy parrots flying throughout the exhibit. These nomads wander the eucalyptus forest of northern and eastern Australia in search of flowers, the source of their food: nectar and pollen. They are also orchard pests, eating ripe apples and pears. Occasionally they even feed on fermented fruit, causing them to roll about drunkenly on the ground. Huge flocks return noisily to their high roosting trees each evening.
Black-headed python
Black-headed pythons are found from the sub-humid forests in the north to the arid interior of the country. Like many other Australian pythons, they escape extreme heat by retreating to underground burrows, emerging after sundown to hunt. They will often stay entirely underground except for exposing the black portion of their heads and necks. Scientists speculate that this behavior is for thermal regulation or that the black head provides camouflage for hunting prey in burrows. These pythons are predominantly terrestrial and rock-inhabiting snakes. Black-headed pythons eat a wide variety of prey including lizards, other snakes (including venomous species), birds and mammals.
Rosy-breasted cockatoo
These lovely rosy-pink cockatoos gather in flocks of usually 30 to 100, made up of pairs (which mate for life) or of non-breeding younger birds. They perform dramatic aerial displays, which are part of courtship rituals, but are also performed daily before roosting and during rainstorms. These displays are characterized by much swooping through treetops and loud, raucous screaming.
The rosy-breasted cockatoo is one of the few native Australian creatures that has benefited dramatically from European settlement and cultivation of the land. Their expansion in range is largely due to the growing of grain, increased provision of water for stock in arid regions and irrigation systems that ensure a virtual year-round supply of food. Mainly seed-eaters, these birds have taken quite readily to introduced cereal crops. While Americans pay $1,000 for a pet rosy-breasted on the illegal market, Australian farmers cannot eradicate this grain-destroying bird quickly enough.
Frilled dragon
When cornered, the three-foot-long adult frilled lizard will stand on its hind legs, open its brightly colored mouth, hiss madly and pop open its foot-in-diameter neck frill, like an umbrella. The frill normally lies in folds around the shoulders and neck and is "activated" by opening its mouth wide. It is supported by a set of cartilaginous rods connected to the muscles of the tongue and jaws in such a manner that, when the mouth gapes widely, the frill is extended, displaying a broad, rounded expanse of bright orange and red scales. The frill is also believed to aid in the regulation of body temperature.
Frilled lizards spend much of their time hunting insects in trees and when approached, they circle around the trunk to sneak a peek at the intruder. Frilled lizards escape harm from the yearly dry season fires by climbing to the tops of trees until the ground fire passes by.
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