2007-12-16 10:29:36 · 6 answers · asked by magdalena u 1 in Travel ➔ Australia ➔ Other - Australia
Most Australian mammals are marsupials but there are some placental mammals on land - rats, mice and bats. The old endemic Australian rats and mice have evolved from rodents that arrived some 15 million years ago. A second wave of rats evolved from a New Guinea rat and are known as the new endemics. These are the same genus, rattus, as the recently introduce brown and black rats from Europe. Since Europeans arrived and introduced the cat and the brown and black rats, many of the native species have become extinct. There are now twenty three species of endemic rat plus the two recently introduced species,
2007-12-16 17:48:18 · answer #1 · answered by tentofield 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What exactly do you mean by Australian Rat?
Do you mean:
The Rats of Tobruk?
Siege of Tobruk.
Between April and August 1941 up to 14,000 Australians, under the command of Lieutenant-General Leslie Morshead were besieged in Tobruk by a German-Italian army commanded by General Erwin Rommel. The Allied garrison, largely Australian, consisted of 9 Division (20, 24 and 26 Brigades), the 18 Brigade of 7 Division and four regiments of British artillery.
The German propagandist Lord Haw Haw (William Joyce) derided the troops as the "Rats of Tobruk", a term proudly embraced as an ironic compliment.
Do you mean:
Musky Rat Kangaroo: Hypsiprymnodon moschatus?
It is a marsupial and NOT a rat.
General body colour is rich brown
Head is grey-brown in colour
Dark brown tail covered with small scales creating a naked appearance.
Distinguished from other members of its family by having five toes on its hind foot.
Travels via a slow "bunny-hop" movement.
This is the smallest of all kangaroos.
It is restricted to the floor of the tropical rainforests of north-eastern Australia.
It is one of Australia’s two strictly daytime active marsupials.
It is also unique within the superfamily for several features; it's bounding rather than hopping gait, (more like a rabbit), it’s tail which can curl around to carry nesting material, and it’s habitat of usually having two young at a time (rather than one).
2007-12-16 21:32:17 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
There is at least one species of rat that is native to Australia. I am not aware of anything particularly unusual about it, but try checking the link below for more information.
2007-12-16 19:48:43 · answer #3 · answered by Tim N 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
What is an australian rat?
I figure rats are rats...
2007-12-16 19:37:58 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
They all follow the Collingwood Football Club.
2007-12-16 19:55:00 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 1⤋
when it craps, it has gold nuggets.
2007-12-16 20:08:09 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋