Mammals

(Macropus parryi) Also called: pretty-faced wallaby, grey-faced wallaby, grey flier, blue flier, jabali. The most beautiful and boldly marked of mid-sized kangaroos, the whiptail wallaby gets its name from its long tail, which tapers to a whip-like end (though see Did you know? for another version). Edward Turner Bennett first named this species in 1835 from …

(Xeromys myoides) Also known as the marine mouse or yirrkoo (Indigenous). Introduction Water mouse (Xeromys myoides)and mound.Drawings: Angela Frost One of Australia’s rarest rodents, the water mouse is a nocturnal non-marsupial terrestrial carnivore that inhabits coastal marine and estuarine environments. Until the late 1990s, when field surveys were carried out by WPSQ, very little was …

(Dasyurus hallucatus) Also called the northern Australian native cat, northern native cat, satanellus, and njanmak (Mayali) Introduction Northern quollPhoto © Eric Vanderduys The northern quoll is the smallest of four species of marsupial carnivore in the genus Dasyurus. The species was first described in 1842 and given the species name hallucatus, which means ‘notable first …

(Dasyurus maculatus) Spotted-tailed quoll (Dasyurus maculatus)Photo: Scott Burnett Also called … Tiger quoll, tiger cat, yarri (Herbert River District), burrumbil (Mulgrave River and Atherton Tablelands, north Queensland) Introduction The spotted-tailed quoll is mainland Australia’s largest marsupial carnivore. It was one of the first Australian animals to be encountered by Europeans; Arthur Phillip’s party collected one …

(Tachyglossus aculeatus) The short-beaked echidna isAustralia’s most widespread animalPhoto © WPSQ Also known as spiny anteater, nyingarn (Beeloo, WA), tjilkamata (Pitjantjatjara, Central Australia), minha kekoywa (Pakanh, Cape York Peninsula) Tachyglossus means ‘quick tongue’, referring to the speed with which the echidna uses its tongue to catch ants and termites. Aculeatus means ‘spiny’. The species was …

(Ornithorhynchus anatinus) Juvenile female platypus, Cold Creek. Image © Tamielle Brunt / Wildlife Queensland Also known as the duck-billed platypus, boondaburra, mallangong or tambreet (Indigenous terms around Yas, Murrumbidgee and Tumat), or tohunbuck (Goomburra language, Darling Downs). The platypus belongs to the order Monotremata, meaning ‘one hole’ because it has a single opening for its …

(Lasiorhinus krefftii) Also called Yaminon (Indigenous name from the region of St George, south-western Queensland) Introduction Northern hairy-nosed wombat.Photo © EPA / Darren Jew This is one of Australia’s rarest marsupials. At the last census in 2016, there was an estimated population of 250 northern hairy-nosed wombats in the wild, and none live in captivity. …

(Phascolarctos cinereus) Introduction image © WIldlife Queensland The koala is the largest arboreal folivore found in Australia, with a lifestyle adapted to life in the trees.  It is the only extant member of the family Phascolarctidae but debate continues amongst researchers as to whether there are two or three subspecies, or whether there are any …

(Petaurus australis) Yellow-bellied gliderImage © Steve Parish Publishing The yellow-bellied glider, also known as the fluffy glider in Far North Queensland, is a member of the Petauridae family. It is the largest of the four Petaurus gliders that occur in Australia. Description The yellow-bellied glider lives in family groups and is the most vocal of …

(Petaurus breviceps / Petaurus notatus / Petaurus ariel) Sugar GliderPhoto © Steve Parish Publishing Sugar gliders are possibly the most commonly known of all the glider species in Australia. Previously considered to be one species (Petaurus breviceps), a study[i] published in July 2020 showed the sugar glider is actually three genetically distinct species: Petaurus breviceps and two new …