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Australlana - Lace Monitor Lizard

The Lace Monitor lizards in an Australiana icon. There are several kinds of goanna in Australia. The largest is the Lace Monitor, Varannus varius . It lives in trees and in summer it is very active hunting for food. In winter is slows down and spends its days resting in hollows in trees. They often hang around picnickers looking for food scraps. Some people fear goannas, but for the most part the reptile is harmless - they could hardly swallow a human whole. They would rather run than bite a large living animal: their main target is carrion. When male Lace Monitors mate they go through the set patterns of who is the strongest to get the female.  Having young is an easy matter. A female lays her eggs in a termites nests which stays at a steady 31°C. Aboriginals used goanna oil to ease body pain and as a protective layer on wounds. Early European settlers used the oil on guns as it was a good substitute for standard lubricating oil.   Goanna linament does not contain

Anthropology Has New Theory on Australian Aboriginals

New theory on Australian Aboriginals - Anthropology. Australian Aboriginals split from Eurasians and moved south into the dry continent. Twenty thousand years later the world warmed up and Australia was cut off from its northern neighbors. This is the latest theory.  But when Europeans initially came to Queensland there were two types of native people. Each was a distinct genetic pool. One was like Papua New Guineans. The other was very slight and shorter. It is the latter that predominates today. Papua New Guineans Australian Aboriginals Some scientists still hold that there was only one move out of Africa. This is an unsustainable supposition. The doors for movement were always open. Australian Aboriginals were quite unique. It seems that they were the first to leave Africa. There is also the question of Tasmanian Aboriginals who were wiped out by arriving Europeans. There is no evidence of them now. They could not light fires. The flames had to be stolen f

Higher Carbon Dioxide Levels Makes Us Stupid

Carbon dioxide changes behavior. Higher carbon dioxide in the atmosphere could be making us stupid. Research has shown that greater concentration s of CO 2  c auses neurological impairment in fish. Sea water stores the dangerous element - the ocean has become more acidic because of its increased presence. The test subjects were Damsel fish  (Acathochromis polyacanthus) , which live in coral reefs. Half were kept in a normal atmosphere. The other half were put in an atmosphere with elevated CO 2 . Brain chemistry, blood and behavior were measured. The behavior test involved the fish choosing between entering normal sea water or going to water containing injured fish. The smell of the injured fish should have stopped the damselfish from choosing to enter that water. However, the fish exposed to higher CO 2   ignored or did not pick up the chemical warning : the injured fish didn't bother them. This is ground breaking stuff. It could show what will happen to hu

Australiana - Echida is an Australian Icon

The echidna is on the list of Australiana. A particular native mammal is everywhere in Australia. It is the great adapter. The ubiquitous echidna is its name. The Short-beaked Echidna, Tachiglossus aculeatus, is even found in the Australian Alps.  Like the anteater its has a long nose, but that is where the similarity ends. They both eat ants. The echidna has no teeth. In some ways it is like a hedgehog, using spines for defence. They have developed a way of safe mating. The male digs a trench. The female get in as does the male. The male carefully lifts the female's tail and while lying on his side pushes his tail underneath her. No harm is done by the spines. Offspring feed by licking up milk that oozes from the mother's milk patches. They do not have nipples. Babies are born without spines. The mother pushes them away when the spines begin to grow at seven weeks. She feeds on ants and continues to return every five days to feed the young. ◆ Aust