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Articles on Australian endangered species

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A Bramble Cay Melomys nibbling on some island herbage. Queensland Government

Australian endangered species: Bramble Cay Melomys

The Bramble Cay Melomys (Melomys rubicola) has one of the most unusual and precarious distributions of all Australian mammals. The melomys is restricted to an unstable 4-5 hectare coral cay in the eastern…
Leckie’s Crayfish is found in a tiny mountain stream in northern New South Wales. Jason Coughran

Australian endangered species: Leckie’s Crayfish

Australia has about 135 species of freshwater crayfish - and we’re still describing more. Case in point are the Cherax group of crayfish, which includes the critically endangered Hairy Marron from Western…
Fun fact: geckos don’t have eyelids, so they have to lick clean their eyes. UQ Media & Conrad Hoskin

Australian endangered species: Gulbaru Gecko

You may not have heard of the Gulbaru Gecko but you’d love it if you met it. Ancient and spectacular, this endangered gecko has one of the smallest distributions of any Australian animal. Australia is…
Our threatened species, like this young Leadbeater’s Possum, need some attention. Flickr/Greens MPs

Let’s put threatened species on the election agenda

The Coalition will instate a Commissioner for Threatened Species should it form government, according to shadow environment minister Greg Hunt. The minister says that, while management plans for threatened…
Don’t be fooled, this little guy will grow to be the largest turtle in the world. Flickr/Jennie - My Travels

Australian endangered species: Leatherback Turtle

Note: since publishing the Leatherback Turtle has been removed from the critically endangered list. It is now considered to be vulnerable. Leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) are the largest, oldest…
Catch of the day: a Harrisson’s Dogfish caught for field work in Bass Strait. David Maynard

Australian endangered species: Harrisson’s Dogfish

Note: since publishing Harrison’s Dogfish has been removed from the critically endangered list. It is now considered to be endangered. Harrisson’s Dogfish (Centrophorus harrissoni) is a small shark that…
A female Hawksbill turtle nesting in northern Australia. Scott Whiting

Australian endangered species: Hawksbill Turtle

The Hawksbill Turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) is one of the seven species of marine turtles and one of six in the family Cheloniidae. It is easily distinguished from other turtle species by its beak-like…
There are fewer than 50 Southern Corroboree Frogs in the wild. Michael McFadden

Australian endangered species: Southern Corroboree Frog

High up in the sub-alpine bogs of the Snowy Mountains lives one of Australia’s most iconic and rarest creatures, the Southern Corroboree Frog (Pseudophryne corroboree). This small, vividly-coloured species…
The Central Rock-rat appears to have disappeared. Why? DLRM, NT Government

Australian endangered species: Central Rock-rat

Australia’s small arid zone mammals have greatly suffered since European settlement. Some 11 species are extinct, and a further eight are listed as endangered or critically endangered. Their loss has been…
Each Spotted Handfish has its own unique spot pattern. Tess Moriarty

Australian endangered species: Spotted Handfish

The Spotted Handfish (Brachionichthys hirsutus) is a small fish that lives on the sea bed in the cool, sheltered waters of south-east Tasmania. It has modified pelvic fins that look like “hands”, hence…
Why does the Scottsdale Burrowing Crayfish have a spiny tail? Niall Doran

Australian endangered species: Tasmanian burrowing crayfish

Although few people get the chance to meet one, burrowing crayfish rarely fail to catch the imagination. The idea of a little lobster living in a subterranean labyrinth is strange enough to give burrowing…
The metallic-coloured Schayer’s Grasshopper from Tasmania. David Rentz

Australian endangered species: Schayer’s Grasshopper

There are some 700 known species of grasshopper in Australia. But, fewer than half have been described. This is creating an information gap, and some species have fallen in. Schayer’s Grasshopper (Schayera…
It’s hard being a tiny snail in a Great Lake. Karen Richards

Australian endangered species: Tasmanian snails and limpets

While you’re worrying about pygmy-possums and hairy-nosed wombats spare a thought for some of Australia’s least known endangered species. Freshwater molluscs - snails, slugs and mussels - are in trouble…
The tiny White-bellied Frog lives in the swamps of south-west Australia. Perth Zoo

Australian endangered species: White-bellied Frog

The White-bellied Frog (Geocrinia alba) is a tiny frog from south-west Western Australia, inhabiting a range of 130km2 between Margaret River and Augusta. It was only discovered in the early 1980s and…
A fire coral and friends, Millepora intricata in a lagoon on the Great Barrier Reef. Mike Emslie and Daniela Ceccarelli

Australian endangered species: Fire corals

The fire coral (Millepora boschmai) is one of the rarest species of coral in the world. It is known only from a small number of locations in the Pacific Ocean, Panama and Indonesia, and it appears this…
Male gobies are like peacocks. This is the Edgbaston Goby. Adam Kereszy

Australian endangered species: Desert gobies

Gobies are one of the largest and most widespread fish families in the world, but even so, the presence of endemic species in the Great Artesian Basin spring complexes of central Australia is a little…
An Armoured Mistfrog blending into a rock. Robert Puschendorf

Australian endangered species: Torrent frogs

Torrent frogs are an interesting group of frogs found in the rainforests of north-east Australia. There are four species in the group: the Mountain Mistfrog (Litoria nyakalensis), the Armoured Mistfrog…
If you’re a family or a business, you’ll get a look-in on Budget night. But what if you’re a Western Swamp Turtle? Sascha Grant

On budget night, humans will trump other species, again

Last year the Australian governments (federal and state) spent AU$6.23 billion on the budget line “climate change and environment”. This probably seems a reasonable amount to most taxpayers, compared to…
The Christmas Island Shrew has been recorded four times since its discovery. Max Orchard

Australian endangered species: Christmas Island Shrew

It may be that there are no more shrews in Australia. There was only ever one representative, edging into the Australian political estate on the remote Christmas Island, closer to Java than any other part…

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