A Guide to Aboriginal Astronomy - Australian Geographic
WEBAstronomy was used by indigenous Australians to develop calendars and navigate the land. Each hunter-gatherer tribe lived according to an annual cycle, which informed what they ate and hunted and where they travelled. “The timing of the moves was critical, otherwise animals would eat the crop before the humans arrived and so most Aboriginal ...
Fact File: Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) - Australian Geographic
WEBAverage lifespan. Between 13-18 years. Size. 60-85cm long and between 4kg and 15kg in weight. There’s nothing more Aussie than a koala up a gumtree, and these iconic marsupials are a well-loved species that are found nowhere else in the world. With their habitat sadly under threat, and numbers declining, the koala is the last surviving member ...
The corals of the Great Barrier Reef: illustrated
WEBJun 30, 2017 · All illustrations by Brittney Klein. Three-quarters of the world’s 798 coral species can be found on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, and they come in a huge variety of shapes, sizes and colours. There are more than 600 coral species in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, which covers 344,400sq.km of ocean. Corals are colonies of tiny polyps ...
The A-Z of Aussie slang - Australian Geographic
WEBBludger. Beginning as London criminal slang from ‘bludgeoner’ (recorded from 1856), bludger meant a pimp who bludgeons (beats with a stick) prostitutes’ clients to rob them. Bludger faded from use in London, but made its way to the Australian colony, where it’s recorded from 1882.
Everything you need to know about snakes - Australian Geographic
WEBFeb 22, 2016 · Snakes have no eyelids. Snakes can eat animals who are 75–100 per cent larger than their own head. Before shedding, a snake’s eyes will become cloudy/opaque. Endemic to Western Australia’s Pilbara region, the Anthill python (Antaresia perthensis) is the smallest python species in the world.
How did the iconic boab tree get to Australia?
WEBThe boab tree, an icon of the Kimberley. In 1820, on first encountering a boab, explorer Phillip Parker King was struck by the “gouty habit of the stem, which was soft and spongy [and] gave it an appearance of disease”. Living for many hundreds of years, this strange tree seems touched by the bizarre. Its often grotesquely swollen, silvery ...
A guide to Australia’s seals and sea lions - Australian Geographic
WEBAustralian fur seal. Distribution: The islands of southern Victoria, Bass Strait, Tasmania and SA but as far north as the NSW mid north-coast. This is the largest of the world’s fur seals, with mature males often weighing more than 300 kg. As with most pinnipeds, females are considerably smaller, usually reaching weights of between 50 and 110 kg.
The evolution of Anzac Day from 1915 until today
WEBApr 24, 2017 · Australians have commemorated Anzac Day on 25 April for more than a century, but the ceremonies and their meanings have changed significantly since 1915. On the morning of of Sunday, 25 April 1915, Australian and New Zealand troops entered their first major engagement of World War I, stepping …
The little-known story of Australia’s convict women
WEBJun 4, 2018 · It’s estimated that 164,000 convicts were shipped to Australia between 1788 and 1868 under the British government’s new Transportation Act — a humane alternative to the death penalty. Approximately 25,000 of these convicts were women, charged with petty crimes such as stealing bread. “Half the women landed in mainland Australia and half ...
A guide to the sea snakes of Australia - Australian Geographic
WEBEmydocephalus annulatus. Range: Found around Australia from the Timor Sea to the Pacific Ocean, as well as the Philippines and New Caledonia. Length: 80cm–1m. Threat status: Least concern. This fish egg–eating specialist has relatively weak venom. Males have a spike-like, elongated scale on the upper lip, which is used to scrape eggs off ...