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Animals starting with K

Australian animals

List of animals from Australia and other countries in Oceania.

View in the Videographic Dictionary

Scientific name: order: peramelemorphia
Bandicoots are small marsupials from Australia. Most bandicoots are about the same size as a rabbit. They eat plants as well as insects and small animals. There are around 20 different species of bandicoot.

Bis forBilby

Scientific name: macrotis lagotis
Bilbies are rabbit sized animals that live in remote desert areas of Australia. They eat plants, seeds and insects.
Photo of a budgerigar
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Scientific name: melopsittacus undulatus
A budgerigar, or budgie for short, is a very small parrot that many people keep as pets. They are very friendly, and like most parrots they can be taught to talk. Budgerigars are originally from central Australia, and were once only green and yellow. All the other colors have been created by people selectively breeding them.
Scientific name: casuarius casuarius
Cassowaries are very large flightless birds that live in tropical forests of New Guinea and northeastern Australia. The only birds bigger than the cassowary are the ostrich and emu. Cassowaries mainly eat fruit, but will also eat new shoots, seeds and fungi, insects and small animals. Cassowaries usually travel around on their own except when it is time to find a mate and lay eggs. The booming noise the cassowary makes is the lowest known bird call, and is so low humans can only just hear it.
Photo of a dingo on a beach
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Dis forDingo

Scientific name: canis lupus dingo
A dingo is a kind of yellow dog that was introduced to Australia many hundreds of years ago. They howl, but they do not bark. When people started farming sheep in Australia, the dingos killed the sheep, so people built a fence right across Australia to keep the dingos out.
Photo of an echidna
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Eis forEchidna

An echidna, or spiney anteater, is a small, spiney animal found in Australia and New Guinea. They eat mostly ants and termites. Along with the platypus, echidnas are the only animals that lay eggs.
Photo of an emu
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Eis forEmu

Scientific name: dromaius novaehollandiae
Emus are a large flightless bird that lives in Australia. It is the second-largest bird, after the ostrich. They eat insects and some plants. Emus lay very large, speckly blue eggs with hard shells. The male emu looks after the eggs and babies.
Photo of a frilled lizard
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Scientific name: chlamydosaurus kingii
The frill necked lizard, frilled lizard or frilled dragon is found in dry regions of Australia and New Guinea. It can grow to a metre long including its tail. The lizard has a large frill around its neck that it can raise when it is disturbed, and the frill is meant to frighten off whatever disturbed it. If the frill doesn't work it will run away and hide up a tree. Frill neck lizards eat insects and small lizards.
Photo of two galahs
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Gis forGalah

Scientific name: eolophus roseicapilla
Galahs, also called the rose-breasted cockatoo, are an extremely common parrot found in large flocks all over Australia. It has risen to pest proportions in some areas.

Gis forGoanna

Scientific name: genus: varanus
Goannas are large monitors that live in Australia. Some of them are quite small, but some can grow up to two metres long. Goannas eat insects and small animals, and will also eat rotting meat from dead animals they find.

And also ...

Flying fox