Reading...
Play button
Play button
Use LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to navigate between flashcards;
Use UP and DOWN arrow keys to flip the card;
H to show hint;
A reads text to speech;
112 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
|
Pleurodira
|
side necked turtles, ancient gondwana (s. America), dominant freshwater in Oz, 7 long neck, 18 short
|
|
|
Pleurodira feeding thru life
|
hatchlings are carnivorous, become opportunistic omnivores
|
|
|
Great Artesian Basin
|
Natural soaks/springs in some location, accessible by drilling bores, impt for agriculture
|
|
|
Artesian or mound springs: where? what kind of animals? type of water?
|
about 600, permanent water flow, sparse animal distribution, animals isolated and speciation occurs as water is isolated from water bodies/with some warm water
|
|
|
Channel country characteristics and effects on animals
|
drought then flooding with shallow unshaded hot water, narrow species diversity- generalists some are dormant, rapid dvlpmt and breeding, migratory non aquatic species
|
|
|
Salt lakes and clay pans characteristics
|
extreme salinity, shallow leads to temp/oxy/and water supply extremes
|
|
|
Intermittent Rivers (coopers.georgia)-characteristics and fauna
|
string of permanent water holes/billabong sometimes connected, deeper, shaded, hypoxia from low flow
fish distribution is similar in same river, more diversity than clay/saltpans |
|
|
Inland Permanent Rivers
|
shaded, structured, cooler, slow flow, muddy water, permanent veg
|
|
|
Coastal Permanent Rivers
|
Clear water, shaded, cooler, permanent veg, well oxy, faster flow, diversity and nonspecialists
|
|
|
Pleurodira Incubation
|
genetic sex determination, summer/spring/dry, one clutch per season of 10-30, females larger no male/male comp
|
|
|
Cryptodira
|
neck folds in mid-sagittal plane during retraction, no land tortoises in Oz, but these are the sea turtles and land tortoises all over the world
|
|
|
Cryptodira incubation
|
temperature determined sex
|
|
|
Found in Unilakes most
|
Emydura signata, pleurodira, basks, Brisbane river turtle, can pack clutch as fewer larger eggs or more smaller eggs
|
|
|
Bum breathers
|
cloacal bursae, acts as a gill taking up oxy from water ie mary river turtle, fitzroy
|
|
|
Chelodina
|
long necked turtles, carnivorous, sit and wait predators, suction feeding, underwater nesting, lay in anoxic mud, eggs diapause and when oxygen level increases diapause is broken and the embryos begin to develop
|
|
|
Frog Death: causes, examples, how many
|
7 species since the 70's, habitat frag loss of breeding stes, /UVB rays immunosuppression, chytridfungus, climate change, insecticide, introduced species, platypus and marsupial frog
|
|
|
Kinds of frogs
|
ground dwelling/burrowers (only OZ), rainforest, cane toad, tree, true
|
|
|
why cane toads are dangerous
|
eat native frogs, parotid glands behind the eyes produce and squirt poison killing predators and prey
|
|
|
Terrestrial life is stressful for frogs whose first stage of life is aquatic. How do they adapt to life on land?
|
Skin and secretions protect against UV and water loss, strong skeletomuscular system , and shell-less eg, long legs with hinge (antigravity)
|
|
|
Desert frogs adapt to environment by:
|
dry and prolonged starvation(years): huge bladders w/dilute urine used as water source, when there is water they reproduce and eat other frogs , back selves into wet mud forming a cocoon, only nostrils exposed, homeostasis maintained with lowered metabolic rate
|
|
|
Crocodilian Evolution
|
first repro on land due to shelled egg, amniotes (like mammal and bird), first in Carboniferous approx 300 but first crocs about 225mya, began terrestrial and moved to water
|
|
|
Australia's Crocs
|
Estaurine: crocodylus posorus
Freshies: endemic in Oz, Crocodylus johnstoni, |
|
|
Freshies:
|
may tolerate full seawater, smaller, narrow snout, even jawline, similar size/shaped teeth
|
|
|
Freshie Reproduction
|
bury eggs in sand/soil (hole nesters) and don't look after them, 8-20 but 12avg clutch size
|
|
|
Characteristics and habitat of estaurine:
|
widely dispersed, any water will do, robust skull, huge 7m, uneven jaw and teeth
|
|
|
Nesting of Estaurine Croc
|
vegetation but sometimes sand/soil used to build mound, avg 53 in clutch, mom protects, low survivorship (egg to mature <1%)
|
|
|
Sex determination in crocs
|
temperature usually, below 31.5C and above33C = females
|
|
|
Dragon Lizards
|
wide distribution in most habitat, but most in arid and semi, diurnal heliotherms, don't tail drop, temp determines sex, sit and wait predators (ie. thorny devil (water drips from body channels to mouth, frilled neck, bearded dragon...)
|
|
|
Lizards in Oz
|
appeared first about 130 mya, cretaceous, 475 species, came from asia via indonesian archipelago
|
|
|
Bearded lizard
|
1. head bobbing display behavior
2. first species that hysteresis was described in (fast heating and slower cooling allows more active periods in they day) |
|
|
Australian geckos: origin? drop tail? active during? cool fact?
|
nocturnal, drop tails, unclear if Eurasian or Gondwana origin, found throughout Aussieland, terrestrial and arboreal, setae velcro things on toepads, some PARTHENOGENIC, 1-2 eggs in clutch
|
|
|
Pygopodidae
|
legless lizard, degeneration of hindlimbs represented by scaly flap, only in Oz and NG, drop tail, oviparous, come lay continually clutches of 2 ie. Burtons snake-lizard (eats skinks)
|
|
|
Skinks: features, example, sizes, ovip or vivip
|
1. bony secondary palatte
2. composite osteoderms under each scale (bony chip secreted under skin) huge body variation and habitat diversity, many are VIVIparous (placental) ie sleepy lizard |
|
|
Varanidae
|
monitors, originated maybe in Oz, forked tongues, medium to large, active predators, diurnal
|
|
|
Typhlopidae
|
blind snakes, burrow, small, nocturnal, spine on end of tail, eat termite and ant eggs and larvae, tough scales, ovip, foul smelling odor from anal glands, origin Aust
|
|
|
Boidae
|
pythons, pythoninae (exclusive to Oz), nocturnal, M to L, labrial pits sensors on head, eat mammals and birds, ovip, constrict, from Asia 25mya
|
|
|
Brooding
|
when temp is below 28C, female broods eggs by regular body muscle contractions-shivering to increase their heat (pythons)
|
|
|
Colubridae
|
colubrids, aquatic or tree, venomous, rear fanged, ovip, venom may help with digestion, comes with chewing not an injection, constrict to kill small vertebrates, dominant in all continents but Oz, 10mya
|
|
|
Acrochordidae
|
File Snakes,rare, aquatic, nocturnal, constrict and hold prey in place with sharp point on scales and swallow fish whole, vivip
|
|
|
Elapidae
|
elapids, most venomous (fierce snake), diurnal, vertebrates are prey, vivip and ovip, increase Oz diversity, 25 mya Asia
|
|
|
Hydrophiidae
|
true sea snakes, viviparous, venomous front fanged, related to elapids and sea kraits
|
|
|
Laticaudidae
|
sea kraits, somewhat terrestrial, oviparous, venomous front fanged
|
|
|
species Homalopsinae
|
colubrid, vivip and aquatic, eats crabs but bites off their legs first instead of swallowing hole
|
|
|
Why Meganesia as the biounit for birds?
|
many birds breed in Australia and return to NG for non-breeding part of year, australia has high bird diversity(760) but low endemicism (only 2 fams) but meganesia has high endemicism (28%)
|
|
|
Northern invaders theory
|
bird origin theory thinking that birds invaded from Asia thru Indo and Malay and PNG to Aust 90mya before continental ideas of drift (1944). Not plausible as wallace and weber lines and derived from distinct groups -recent africa and asian groups but old Gondwanan groups
|
|
|
vicariance
|
distribution determined by continent movement or natural biogeographical barriers
|
|
|
Gondwanan origin birds
|
kingfishers, parrots, cockatoos, lorikeets, emus, kiwi, cassaw, pigeons, doves, passerines, mound builders
|
|
|
Passerines
|
perching birds 42% of Oz birds, three forward pointing nonwebbed toes and one backward toe, small and nonswimming- Gondwana origin 85-90mya with three suborder
|
|
|
Suborder: Passeres
|
song birds 55-60mya
|
|
|
Passeridae
|
NW + OW insect eaters, finches, escaped and radiation occurs in Asia, dispersal to Africa and N. Am and reinvaded Australia
|
|
|
Corvida and their evolution
|
Australian song birds, escaped 20-30mya to Asia (radiation), reinvade 10mya, 250sp in Aust and NG
|
|
|
Cooperative Breeding
|
rare (6%) but high freq in Oz (30% of the 6% -Aussie). more than 2 adults, usually related but sometimes unrelated help raise brood (parenting experience, inherit breeding ground, sneaky copulators)
|
|
|
Hypothesis explaining why Australian birds have a high frequency of cooperative breeding:
|
geography and climate make it hard for birds to disperse and breed along with the high survival rates of birds so there are fewer breeding grounds. it is better to stay with your native group and inherit territory
|
|
|
superb blue wren
|
behaviorally monogamous but 76% multiple paternity, females sneak 1km away at night to copulate with others, males stay with parents to raise brood
|
|
|
Whitewinged chough
|
obligate cooperative breeding (only one) need at least 4 to fledge a chick and 7 to make it through winter. territorial and kidnap to increase group size
|
|
|
Nomadism
|
strategy to survive unpredictable and ephemeral food sources (can depend on rain)-flock can be supported for a short time to large food supply(ephemeral) and protection from predators (ie pelican, zebra finch, lorikeets)
|
|
|
Megapodes
|
all Australasian, mound builders, young receive no parental care, use microbial/solar/geothermal heat to regulate mound temperature, 3 species, thin shell large eggs
|
|
|
Brush Turkey
|
male mound maintainance, building, and defence, from 1-3 mounds, up to 3 females per mound, forces copulation before egg laying, female does a stampy dance and there is a pecking order of who lays first
|
|
|
Malleefowl
|
monogamous for life, uses microbial and solar heat to maintain mound, long process of clearing out an old mound, put fresh leaf litter, rain mixes makes compost, heat, sand blanket on top, flatten mound during sunny parts of day to catch solar rays
|
|
|
Psittaciforms: food, breeding?
|
parrots, lorikeets, cockatoos, and others 56 Aust species monogamous and longlived, 2 parents feed nestlings nest in tree hollows or ground, eat nectar, seeds, nuts (tough beaks more than a mouth)
|
|
|
Lorikeets
|
thinner beaks, garish colors, nectar/flowers/pollen, brushes on tongue, Australasian, forest/woodlands
|
|
|
Cockatoos
|
large, robust bill, plainer colors, movable crests, Oz home with 12 spec, eat seeds
|
|
|
Monotremes
|
lay eggs, reptilian pelvic girdle, endotherms fur/milk, have one cloaca for excretory and reproductive functions, ancestral plus derived characteristics, may have existed for 200my
|
|
|
Platypus feeding
|
electroreception good, forages in turpid/rubble in streams at night closing nostrils and eyes holding breath for up to 40 seconds. eats small crustaceans and insect larvae, storing in cheek pouches till surface
|
|
|
Platypus reproduction: what about males too..
|
no pouch, egg laying, 1-3 eggs with high twinning, suckle young without teats, care for young in burrow that is plugged, 1 ovary and 2 uteri. males have internal testes and poisonous spurs on their hindlegs
|
|
|
Long beaked echidna
|
not much known about thermoregulation, rare may be up to 3 species in PNG, habitat detruction and hunting by aborigines harms them, POUCH
|
|
|
Short beaked echidna: reproduction
|
torpid and hibernation, allows temp to drop significantly. suckles young in pouch and then leaves them for up to 6 days in burrow (maybe torpid there). males have internal testes breeding occurs irregularly.
|
|
|
Short beaked echidna: food and where found
|
eat termites and ants and have poor electroreception that may detect signals, strong leathery beak and spadelike claws and horny grinding plates instead of teeth. found in Aust and NG
|
|
|
Dasyoromorphic
|
carnivorous marsupials: tasmanian devil, thylacine, brown antechinus, there is a marked lack of medium to large carnivorous marsupials in oz, maybe due to fossil record or maybe soil is too poor to support them
|
|
|
Diprotodontoids
|
digits 2/3 fused, two precumbent incisors, Koalas and wombats and ringtail possum have caecum to digest leaves/grass, kangaroos have chambered stomach like cows
|
|
|
Mammals: endemic? three groups?
|
Therians: marsupials and placentals
Monotremes 90% endemic to Australia |
|
|
Chiroptera, Bats in Aust: what kinds? when did they get here? what do they eat?
|
Microbats 55mya-insectivorous mostly,sonar hunt
Megabats-eat blossoms and fruits, no record before 6000bp, fruitbat/flying fox, hunt by sight |
|
|
Key marsupial characteristics that differ from placentals
|
1. pouch
2. different teeth number and morphology (impt to classify) 3. different ankle and foot morphology (impt to classify) 4. pubic bone in male and female |
|
|
Why marsupial birth?
|
low initial investment in young (good for unpredictable environment, abortion is low cost), low risk to mother during birth
|
|
|
Distinguishing marsupial growth/development
|
short gestation, low neonate mass, after pouch they ride, follow, or are left to fend on their own
|
|
|
Distinguishing marsupial birth
|
born tiny, use smell/balance/touch to find pouch, have forelimbs developed to climb or swim, anchor selves on teat (continuous attachment), teat swells, milk depends on which birth it is, breathe thru skin, stay on till thermoregulate and jaws develop
|
|
|
Distinguishing marsupial morphology/anatomy
|
Males: penis in cloaca, scrotum above penis
Females: 2 vagina, 2 uteri with separate cervix, ureter inside and above genital ducts |
|
|
Social organization in marsupials
|
1.mostly solitary or unterritorial/unstable groups
2. some harem 3. some pair bonding/social monogamy usually no paternal care, semelparity |
|
|
Foliovore Digestion
|
small animals so can't have large intestines, instead
1. caecum- bacterial digestion 2. inactivity and low metabolic rate 3. biochemical pathways to rid of toxins 4. large molar teeth for mechanical breakdown |
|
|
Kangaroo diapause
|
development of blastocyst (70-100cells) is halted (up to months) if previous offspring made it to teat, lasts as long as primary teat in use, good strategy for repopulation, up to three dif preggers, can get preg 1-3 days after birth as oestrus cycle is uninterrupted
|
|
|
Kangaroo locomotion
|
jumping unusual for large mammals but efficient in arid areas where they must traverse lots to get food/water, energy lower than standing still as organs push air out when landing as they hit the diaphragm, 70% of energy stored in tendons
|
|
|
semelparity?
|
male die off, females breed synchronously once a year, once in life: cortisol secretion stress response by males causing them to die of immune collapse and internal bleeding
|
|
|
Lactation Hypothesis
|
have a short life span but slow life history,takes a while to wean so males probably only get one chance to mate. better put everything into that!
|
|
|
Sperm competition hypothesis
|
winners are the males who put all energy in reproduction at teh expense of survival
|
|
|
Female mortality hypothesis:
|
if mothers are likely to die, males must put all energy into breeding with as many as possible
|
|
|
How do invasive species get here?
|
deliberate: societal value, sport, pet, agriculture, biological control
accidental: piggy-backing, shipping, escaped pets |
|
|
How should we control invasive species?
|
biological research, money, politics
|
|
|
How are bunnies bad
|
$200million in agriculture and land degradation, plagues, close cut plants, generalist and tolerant
|
|
|
What's the big deal about invasive species?
|
australia's fauna is predator naive, and hasn't been exposed to many toxins/diseases,
little topsoil already and increased erosion from hoofed animals worsens, muddying of few water sources restricts light to plants |
|
|
Weeds: why out of control? what are they? how to control?
|
plant out of place,disturbance oppportunist, fastgrowing generalist that is well dispersed, dense growth, many seeds, not in a region where controlled by predators/pathogens, ie prickly pear, lantana, bio/physical and quarentine
|
|
|
What's a bioregion?
|
ecologically logical management unit, defined not by politics but by climate, hydrology, vegetation, geography, and soils
|
|
|
What's a regional ecosystem?
|
make up bioregions, precisely defined
|
|
|
Biological control
|
use of natural enemies (predators/disease) to control a population
|
|
|
Pros and cons of biological control
|
Pros: self perpetuating, self regulating, no ongoing cost
Cons: expensive to establish, may get out of hand |
|
|
Prickly Pear
|
intro to aus 1788 for red dye industry, stock feed in drought, and as a garden plant. Common species took over 25 million hectares in 1925, 1924 Prickly Pear Act, tried bounty and spray but cactoblastic cactorum larvae worked, 1996 no more problems, noxious weed considered
|
|
|
Bunnies bio control
|
1857 24 were introduced for hunting, grew to 10 billion by 1936, farms abandoned, 1940s50's, plagues
Myxoma virus-pox,killed 99.8% but has an insect vector, not thru direct contact, dvlping resistance, still helpful Cilici virus-only affects adults, insect vector surprise, patchy effect |
|
|
Cane beetle
|
cane toads introduced, worked in Hawaii so 102 were brought and released in 1935 (3000)n. QLD and again in 1937. poison sacs and not only feeds on cane beetle, competitive and noxious tadpoles
|
|
|
Changing views about wildlife and how we became aware of the need to sustain
|
1. Direct harvest
2. Agriculture 3. Wildlife as sacred but interests to protect are at ends with productive land use 4. sustainable (SUW) |
|
|
Crocs: wild egg harvest and unsustainable history
|
more than 330,000harvested, only 5000 left when decided to conserve. wild egg harvest-conserves nesting habitat, may interfere with natural selection, but those would die anyway and they are rereleased to increase the population. we don't know how this affects them as long lived species takes a while to show pop changes
|
|
|
Crocs: farming vs. wild hunting
|
Farming-closed cycle for meat, skins, ecotourism, and no trophy shooting allowed
Wild adult-can't ensure human aim, undoes public education, damages ecotourism image, but does conserve habitat, increases boldness of combative crocs, and populations could increase |
|
|
Gordon Grigg
|
sheep replacement therapy-arrests land degradation, roos more adapted to environment, only need 15-20% forage that sheep do, increases profit for woolgrowers, reduces roo's image as pest becoming a resource (leather, meat, skin, pet food)
|
|
|
FATE
|
uses sheep replacement approach with more control given to landholders
|
|
|
What causes habitat fragmentation?
|
1.urban development
2.forestry 3.natural disaster 4.mine dvlp 5.agricultural develpment |
|
|
Wildlife consequences of habitat frag:
|
1.lower quality of fragments and isolation/inability to move to other frags
2. lower overall habitat area 3. threats from the matrix 4. new resources and habitat |
|
|
Survivors of hab.frag:
|
generalists, omnivores, urban regulars (possum, water rat, koala), have altered ecologies with dif. range and densities
|
|
|
Losers and Outcasts:
|
O:fringe dwellers, platypus
L: low predisturbance densities, slow to repopulate, extinct from Brisi like the potoroo |
|
|
survival ability of hab.frag depended only on:
|
functional connectivity: effects of landscape structure and the ability for species to move within various landscape elements
landscape and species specific as the matrix and the ability to move thru it is different in each case |
|
|
Koala conservation state by state
|
SA and Victoria: managing overabundance (feral in SA)
SEQLD- dissappearing, IPA integrated planning act, and National Conservatin Act 92 |
|
|
Koala breeding as affected by habitat fragmentation
|
not an alpha male as thought previously, external male travels to different groups copulating-must be able to move around, can't with frags
|
|
|
Koala and conservation of their trees
|
must not only conserve gum tress as koalas feed at night and 50% of their day is spent in other trees where the temp and light is lower
|
|
|
Climate change's effects on koalas
|
1 drought-less access to water
2. composition of soil and drought either causes tree dieback or change in the composition of leaves 3. increased temp at night 4. lower tree cover |
|
|
koala threats
|
1. disease: clap- dirty tail and conjunctivitis
2. road building/road kill 3. dogs 4. habitat frag 5. change in climate |
