Mammals: Of the 223 mammal species in Australia, over half are marsupials. Marsupials are animals that carry their young in a pouch, usually in the front of the body. With the exception of the opossum in North and South America, they are found only in Australia. The best known marsupials include kangaroos, wallabies, and koalas. Food is so scarce in the outback that many mammals have special adaptations that make the most of the natural resources. The honey possum is one such marsupial. It is so dependent on nectar for survival that it has developed a long, slender, beak like snout that fits inside flowers, It also has a brush tipped tongue like those of nectar eating birds.

The mulgara is a carnivorous (meat eating) marsupial which has adapted to the climate in its environment t o the extent that it survives without having to drink water. It obtains necessary water from the bodies of its prey. Many herbivorous (plant eaters), can get all the water they need from the leafy vegetation they eat. In fact, the koala's name is the aborigine word for "no water". The duckbill platypus and the echidna are monotremes, that is, they belong to the lowest order of mammals and lay eggs like reptiles.. Yet, they have fur, a stable body temperature, and produce milk with which they suckle their young.

Reptiles & Amphibians: A variety of snakes inhabit the outback. Some, like the carpet python, are harmless to man, and others, such as the death adder, tiger snake, and king brown snake are deadly. There are also many lizards in the outback. They include geckos, skinks, goannas, and the frilled lizard. The frilled lizard expands the frill around its head in order to scare off predators. The knob tailed gecko has huge eyes and uses its tongue like a windshield wiper to clean them. One of the most interesting lizards is the moloch, commonly called a thorny devil. This curios creature is studded with horns and spikes to deter predators. It has adapted to the scarcity of water by surviving on as little of its as possible. At night it absorbs dew through its skin, where it passes to the mouth to be drunk.

Frogs have adapted surpassingly well to outback conditions. They mate only in wet conditions, so that the tadpoles have time to develop enough to survive the next dry season.  One species, the water holding frog, fills its body with water, burrows deep into the mud, and lives underground inside a mucas cocoon until the next rain.  The outback rivers and swamps are home to two different types of crocodile, the small, freshwater variety and the large and dangerous estuarine crocodile of the inland rivers and lagoons.

Birds: Australia's largest and most unusual bird is the emu. With its long legs, short toes, and light body, this flightless bird can reach a speed of 45 miles per hour when in pursuit of prey.  The colorful budgerigar, another native of the outback, has become one of the most popular pet and aviary birds in the world. Many of the birds in the outback are honey eaters. As an adaptation, they have developed long, thin beaks to make feeding easier. To accommodate the birds and to make pollination easier, many flowers species have adapted by taking on a tubular shape.

Key Facts: 
Plants: Eucalyptus, acacia, desert oak, spinifex, dryandra bottle brush, ghost gum.
Mammals: Mostly marsupials, include the western gray kangaroo, red necked wallaby, black tailed wallaby, southern potoroo, honey possum, wombat, koala, echidna, duckbill platypus, wallaroo, dingo, banded anteater, mulgara, dunnart.
Reptiles and Amphibians: Carpet python, death adder, tiger snake, king brown snake, knob tailed gecko, pygmy spiny tailed skink, goanna moloch, frilled lizard, water holder frog, golden tree frog, freshwater crocodile, estuarine crocodile, tortoise.
Birds: Emu, purple crowned lorikeet, rainbow lorikeet, kookaburra, galah, lesser sulpher crested cockatoo, New Zealand honey eater, black swan, tawny frog mouth, lyrebird, bower bird, rufous bristle bird, chestnut rumped heath wren, orange bellied parrot.

Features & Climate: The continent of Australia covers an area of 3,000,000 square miles. Two thirds of the land mass is known as the outback. This huge expanse of brush is composed of a wide variety of Australian desert grasses of Australian desert grasses, such as spinifex, and plants belonging to the Acacia genus. These plants require little water to survive and are thus well adapted to the arid outback conditions. The outback is dotted with occasional rivers and swamps which widen the variety oif animal and plant species in the region. It stretches across most of the country from the Great Dividing range in the east to the coastal rim along the far west.

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