Fauna of Australia

High school (ages 12+)
Animals & Nature

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/fauna-of-australia

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. How big is Fauna of Australia?7,692,024 square kilometers
2. How many people live in Fauna of Australia?Approximately 26.8 million (as of 2024)
3. What is the capital of Fauna of Australia?Canberra
4. What language do people speak in Fauna of Australia?English (de facto national language); over 250 Indigenous Australian languages are spoken
5. What is the endemism rate (amphibians)?Approximately 94% of amphibians are endemic
6. What is the endemism rate (mammals)?Approximately 69% of mammals are endemic

Endemism: The ecological state of a species being unique to a defined geographic location, such as an island or continent.
Marsupialia: A infraclass of mammals characterized by premature birth and the subsequent development of the young in a maternal pouch.
Monotremata: An order of mammals that lay eggs, comprising the platypus and echidnas, found only in Australia and New Guinea.
Placental Mammals: Mammals that nourish their young internally through a placenta, representing the vast majority of extant mammal species globally.