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Australia
- Thread starter Akhenaten
- Start date
Hallo Alfie
Banned
- Joined
- Oct 4, 2009
- Messages
- 10,691
Yes, we will miss your Profunddiggliness.
Don't let the curmudgiboorsnipers get to you; the tintmuddlers are not worth a pinch of splatterygom poo.
Please reconsider, there is far too much jingonicking left undone.
AAA
Don't let the curmudgiboorsnipers get to you; the tintmuddlers are not worth a pinch of splatterygom poo.
Please reconsider, there is far too much jingonicking left undone.
AAA
Sideroxylon
Featherless biped
Dittomuncher, but let's keep the brawling outside.
arthwollipot
Limerick Purist Pronouns: He/Him
Dittomuncher.
Damien Evans
Up The Irons
Actually, it's one of the youngest. Australian History only goes back to 1788. Australian Prehistory goes back circa 50,000 years, but that's not the oldest outside Africa either. Asia and Europe had Humans 1.8 mya in Asias case and around 1 mya in Europes case. Australia was the last Continent in the Eastern Hemisphere to be colonised, excluding Antarctica.
ETA: damn, I got sucked in by a bloody dittomuncher!
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HawaiiBigSis
List Management
Oh, he's hysterical! I can see myself
DITTOMUNCHER!
Hallo Alfie
Banned
- Joined
- Oct 4, 2009
- Messages
- 10,691
It's a well known fact that splatterygom waste is the preferred styling mousse of Yowie teenagers. That's what gives them that funny smell.
MG1962
Unregistered
- Joined
- Sep 27, 2006
- Messages
- 17,252
Although not the oldest culture it is geneally agreed it has the longest continous culture, with an oral tradition that can be dated back at least 11,000 years
Hallo Alfie
Banned
- Joined
- Oct 4, 2009
- Messages
- 10,691
Actually he's not a dittomuncher at all; respectfully, you are misapplying the word. He is closer to a Doodlewhomper or tintmuddler.
Hysterical is correct. I've seen Ross Noble live 4 times, and I always have a sore face for days afterwards from so much laughing and smiling.A poll for Channel 4 in Britain placed him in the top 10 stand-ups of all time.
Prometheus
Acolyte of Víðarr
- Joined
- Nov 14, 2007
- Messages
- 50,595
Audible Click
The gap in the plot
Possum?
Akhenaten
Heretic Pharaoh
Yes, Petal?
Leadbeater’s Possum (Gymnobelideus leadbeateri) is the State Faunal emblem of Victoria, Australia.
It's a small, highly agile, nocturnal marsupial which does not exist anywhere else but the Central Highlands, Yellingbo Nature Conservation Reserve and alpine areas between Lake Mountain and Mt. Baw Baw. These areas are the tall Eucalypt forests, dominated by the Mountain Ash (Eucalyptus regnans), Alpine Ash (E. delegatensis), and Shining Gum (E. nitens) The Mountain Ash can exceed 100m (160') in height, and is the tallest flowering plant in the world. The forests are very wet places, with an annual rainfall of over 2000mm (heaps") and occasional falls of snow.
Lookim dispella:
This Mountain Ash tree is 100 metres (330 feet) tall
© University of Tasmania
At maturity. Leadbeater’s Possum is only about 300mm (12") long, and half of this is tail. An adult weighs about 100-170 grams (coupla ounces - bewdiful!) - about the same as a guinea pig. Like all marsupials, its young are born blind and naked, and undergo much of their early development in the mother's pouch. They are terminally cute.
Awwww . . .
© Monash University
Leadbeater's Possum was first described in 1867 from dense tea-tree thickets around the Bass River east of Melbourne. By the early 1900's no further animals had been found and the land around the Bass River was extensively cleared, so the possum was thought to be extinct. Almost 100 years after the first specimens were collected, and 50 years after it was last seen, the possum was 're-discovered' in 1961, near Marysville.
Does that name sound familiar? This may remind you of what happened there in February, 2009:
Marysville - destroyed by bushfires - February, 2009
© Weekly Times
Population estimates prior to the 2009 bushfires were around 2,000-2,500 individuals, post-fire estimates are <1,000. Approximately 40-50% of their prime habitat was lost in the fires.
Detailed field surveys of Leadbeater's possum have been conducted since 1983 by David Lindenmayer of the Australian National University and team, with help from many volunteers. They have shown that the possum is most likely to be found in patches of Ash forest with many large old trees containing hollows and a dense understorey of Silver Wattle (Acacia dealbata), Mountain Hickory Wattle (A. obliquinervia) or Forest Wattle (A. frugescens).
The dense wattle understorey provides an important food source for the possum. They make small cuts in the trunks of the wattle trees, which then ooze sap and the sap is eaten by the possum. Leadbeater'ses maintain several sap sites in their territories.
The Sugar Glider (Petaurus breviceps) and the Yellow-bellied Glider (Petaurus australis) are also sap-feeding animals. These sap-feeders all have a dark stripe down their back which may resemble a strip of sap on the tree trunk, and therefore camouflage the animal while feeding.
Tucker Time!
© Dave Watts/Arkive
Also on the menu is a variety of arthropods including crickets, beetles, flies, moths (remember the Bogongs?), ants and spiders.
Taxonomy:
Gymnobelideus is Greek (gymno = naked; belideus = dart, arrow) and leadbeateri is in honour of John Leadbeater (1831-88), a taxidermist, who preserved the first specimens at the Museum of Victoria.
Other sciency stuff:
Other countries have bees to do this sort of thing. How boring.
© Jean-Paul Ferrero/Auscape International
Fun Fact:
Like many nesting marsupials, Leadbeater's Possum has multiple nesting hollows in its territory. There are many reasons why having more than one home in an area could be a good idea: it could make the animal more cryptic and therefore harder for predators to find, it may reduce parasite loads, it may be safer to have several nests nearby in case of an emergency, and different nesting hollows may provide different sheltering aspects (eg some may be more waterproof than others in a downpour, or some may be warmer than others in the winter).
Not-fun Fact:
Leadbeater’s Possum is listed under the Victorian Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 as threatened.
The IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) Red List of Threatened Animals 1994 lists Leadbeater’s Possum as endangered.
Possums go postal! Film at 11
Sources:
Australian National University
Friends of Leadbeater’s Possum Inc
Now bloody be'ave yerselves, ya dagglebelching slipperyblibbets.
Leadbeater’s Possum (Gymnobelideus leadbeateri) is the State Faunal emblem of Victoria, Australia.
It's a small, highly agile, nocturnal marsupial which does not exist anywhere else but the Central Highlands, Yellingbo Nature Conservation Reserve and alpine areas between Lake Mountain and Mt. Baw Baw. These areas are the tall Eucalypt forests, dominated by the Mountain Ash (Eucalyptus regnans), Alpine Ash (E. delegatensis), and Shining Gum (E. nitens) The Mountain Ash can exceed 100m (160') in height, and is the tallest flowering plant in the world. The forests are very wet places, with an annual rainfall of over 2000mm (heaps") and occasional falls of snow.
Lookim dispella:
This Mountain Ash tree is 100 metres (330 feet) tall
© University of Tasmania
At maturity. Leadbeater’s Possum is only about 300mm (12") long, and half of this is tail. An adult weighs about 100-170 grams (coupla ounces - bewdiful!) - about the same as a guinea pig. Like all marsupials, its young are born blind and naked, and undergo much of their early development in the mother's pouch. They are terminally cute.
Awwww . . .
© Monash University
Leadbeater's Possum was first described in 1867 from dense tea-tree thickets around the Bass River east of Melbourne. By the early 1900's no further animals had been found and the land around the Bass River was extensively cleared, so the possum was thought to be extinct. Almost 100 years after the first specimens were collected, and 50 years after it was last seen, the possum was 're-discovered' in 1961, near Marysville.
Does that name sound familiar? This may remind you of what happened there in February, 2009:
Marysville - destroyed by bushfires - February, 2009
© Weekly Times
Population estimates prior to the 2009 bushfires were around 2,000-2,500 individuals, post-fire estimates are <1,000. Approximately 40-50% of their prime habitat was lost in the fires.
Detailed field surveys of Leadbeater's possum have been conducted since 1983 by David Lindenmayer of the Australian National University and team, with help from many volunteers. They have shown that the possum is most likely to be found in patches of Ash forest with many large old trees containing hollows and a dense understorey of Silver Wattle (Acacia dealbata), Mountain Hickory Wattle (A. obliquinervia) or Forest Wattle (A. frugescens).
The dense wattle understorey provides an important food source for the possum. They make small cuts in the trunks of the wattle trees, which then ooze sap and the sap is eaten by the possum. Leadbeater'ses maintain several sap sites in their territories.
The Sugar Glider (Petaurus breviceps) and the Yellow-bellied Glider (Petaurus australis) are also sap-feeding animals. These sap-feeders all have a dark stripe down their back which may resemble a strip of sap on the tree trunk, and therefore camouflage the animal while feeding.
Tucker Time!
© Dave Watts/Arkive
Also on the menu is a variety of arthropods including crickets, beetles, flies, moths (remember the Bogongs?), ants and spiders.
Taxonomy:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Diprotodontia
Family: Petauridae
Genus: Gymnobelideus
Species: leadbeateri
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Diprotodontia
Family: Petauridae
Genus: Gymnobelideus
Species: leadbeateri
Gymnobelideus is Greek (gymno = naked; belideus = dart, arrow) and leadbeateri is in honour of John Leadbeater (1831-88), a taxidermist, who preserved the first specimens at the Museum of Victoria.
Other sciency stuff:
- Leadbeater’s possums live in colonies of up to 12 animals but only one pair per colony will breed.
- They have a matriarchal society (female dominated - just like us).
- Breeding can occur twice a year (spring/summer & autumn/winter) with up to 2 joeys in a litter.
- Females can breed again in one season if the first litter dies.
- Territory is 1.5 - 3 hectares and is well defended.
- Life span in the wild is only about 5 years, but up to 13.5 in captivity.
Other countries have bees to do this sort of thing. How boring.
© Jean-Paul Ferrero/Auscape International
Fun Fact:
Like many nesting marsupials, Leadbeater's Possum has multiple nesting hollows in its territory. There are many reasons why having more than one home in an area could be a good idea: it could make the animal more cryptic and therefore harder for predators to find, it may reduce parasite loads, it may be safer to have several nests nearby in case of an emergency, and different nesting hollows may provide different sheltering aspects (eg some may be more waterproof than others in a downpour, or some may be warmer than others in the winter).
Not-fun Fact:
Leadbeater’s Possum is listed under the Victorian Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 as threatened.
The IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) Red List of Threatened Animals 1994 lists Leadbeater’s Possum as endangered.
Possums go postal! Film at 11
Sources:
Australian National University
Friends of Leadbeater’s Possum Inc
Now bloody be'ave yerselves, ya dagglebelching slipperyblibbets.
Last edited:
What a comeback, Akhenaten! That was brilliant, funny and fascinating!
Ross Noble has something in common with the Leadbeater's Possum.
I wonder if the possums are atheists.
I wonder if the possums are atheists.
I wonder if the possums are atheists.
I'm certain those (still) in my roof aren't.