Inquiry Centre Fact Sheets

Fact Sheet Topics

	Birds		Insects
	Crustaceans and Molluscs		Mammals
	Fish		Reptiles and Amphibians
	Geology		Spiders and their relatives
	Indigenous Studies		Worms

Birds
Name	Description	File Size	Published
Crested Hawk	Each year from about early winter to mid-spring, Brisbane is treated to an 'invasion' by large numbers of a medium-sized, strikingly beautiful bird of prey - the Pacific Baza or Crested Hawk (Aviceda subcristata).	325 KB	Sep 2000

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Crustaceans and Molluscs
Name	Description	File Size	Published
Blue-ringed Octopus	Blue-ringed Octopus are normally not aggressive and attack only when provoked. They are, however, the most venomous octopus in the world and the salivary glands of one individual may contain enough venom to paralyse ten men.	441 KB	Sep 2000
Cone shells	Cone shells (Conus spp.) are among the most abundant and beautifully coloured coiled shells (gastropods) inhabiting marine waters.	542 KB	Sep 2000
Freshwater Crayfish	Freshwater crayfish are bottom-dwelling opportunistic scavengers. A large part of their diet consists of rotting leaves and other plant detritus. In captivity, they can be fed a wide variety of foods including vegetables, fish food and chicken pellets.	101 KB	Sep 2000

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Fish
Name	Description	File Size	Published
Dangerous Sharks	Most attacks can be attributed to 4 species; Tiger Sharks, White Pointers, Bull Sharks and Dusky Whalers.	28 KB	Oct 2000
Queensland Lungfish	Often described as a living fossil, the Queensland Lungfish (Neoceratodus forsteri) has changed very little in more than 110 million years.	218 KB	Sep 2000

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Geology
Name	Description	File Size	Published
Collecting Fossils	The study of fossils is called palaeontology. Amateur palaeontologists can make just as many exciting discoveries as professionals.	156 KB	Sep 2000
Cretaceous Marine Reptiles	Reptiles were among the first vertebrates to live on the land. Many millions of years after they first appeared, some reptiles returned to the sea, possibly to take advantage of abundant food supplies.	521 KB	Sep 2000
Muttaburrasaurus	Muttaburrasaurus langdoni roamed the Australian landscape about 100 million years ago. The dinosaur is known from three specimens from central and northern Queensland and is believed to have been quite common during early Cretaceous Period.	281 KB	Sep 2000
Pseudofossils	Fossils are common and are found in a variety of shapes and sizes, but there are a number of common rock and mineral structures mistaken for fossils. These are called pseudofossils (false fossils).	190 KB	Nov 2000
Rhoetosaurus: a Queensland Dinosaur	One of Australia's largest dinosaurs was Rhoetosaurus brownei, a giant plant-eater that lived in Queensland about 190 million years ago, during the Lower Jurassic Period (Toarcian Stage).	521 KB	Oct 2000
Winton dinosaur trackways	Lark Quarry Environmental Park, about 113 km south-west of Winton in Western Queensland, is the scene of one of the world's most remarkable scientific detective stories.	281 KB	Oct 2000

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Indigenous Studies
Name	Description	File Size	Published
Bags and Baskets	Bags and baskets have been used across all Indigenous Australian communities for a variety of purposes.	600 KB	Nov 2007
Boomerangs	A boomerang is a throwing stick used by Australian Aboriginal people primarily for hunting.	686 KB	Nov 2007
Bush Foods	Indigenous people of Australia travelled within their own traditional homelands sourcing seasonal foods from an extensive range of plants and animals. While these traditional practices were more common before European invasion, many groups still use bush food in their diet or for medicinal purposes.	963 KB	Nov 2007
Didjeridus	The didjeridu (didgeridoo) is a musical instrument that originated from the Aboriginal communities of Arnhem Land, northern Australia.	275 KB	Nov 2007

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Insects
Name	Description	File Size	Published
Assassin Bugs	One large family of these bugs (the Reduviidae) are predatory and feed on the body juices of other animals, mainly other insects. These are called assassin bugs because of their habit of hiding in ambush for their prey.	189 KB	Sep 2000
Bag-shelter Moths and processionary caterpillars	Many Australians are familiar with the very hairy, processionary caterpillars that follow each other head-to-tail and form long chains in late summer and autumn.	500 KB	Nov 2006
Birdwing Butterflies	The Wet Tropics are famous for their spectacular and conspicuous butterflies particularly the birdwings. They have earned this name because of their great size (one is the world's largest butterfly) and their strong, soaring flight.	696 KB	Dec 2006
Case moths, bag moths or bagworms	Case moths, bag moths or bagworms are names given to a group of moths (Family Psychidae) whose caterpillars make portable homes from silk, usually attaching plant material, detritus or sand grains to the outside.	327 KB	Nov 2006
Cicadas - our Summer Singers	Cicadas are familiar insects to many Australians because of their large size, their conspicuous songs in summer and the empty nymphal shells they leave discarded on tree trunks. More than 50 species of cicadas occur in south-east Queensland.	86 KB	Sep 2000
Giant Wood Moth and witchetty grubs	Australia is famous for its wood moths of the genus Endoxyla in the family Cossidae. Their fame is partly because their caterpillars are the true 'witchetty grubs' of traditional Aboriginal diet, but mostly from the fact that the moths themselves are some of the largest in the world.	777 KB	Sep 2000
Paper Wasps	The strings of paper wasp nests hanging from the eaves of an old Queenslander or from a rusty barbed wire fence are a typical part of Australia.	821 KB	Nov 2006
Magnetic Termites	Termites are found on all continents, but magnetic mounds are natural wonders of the tropical Australian landscape.	178 KB	Sep 2000
Rhinoceros Beetles	One of the most spectacular beetles in Australia is the Rhinoceros Beetle (Xylotrupes ulysses).	525 KB	Jan 2007
Stick Insects	Stick and leaf insects, scientifically known as phasmids, are among the largest insects in the world.	721 KB	May 2007
Water Bugs and Water Scorpions	Some bugs are predators, usually capturing insects and other invertebrates. Many of these are associated with fresh water. Once the prey is caught it is pierced and injected with saliva. This digests the prey's internal tissues reducing them to a 'soup' to be sucked up and ingested.	547 KB	Aug 2007

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Mammals
Name	Description	File Size	Published
The Dingo	The Dingo (Canus lupus dingo) is now considered to be a subspecies of the Wolf. Like wolves, but unlike domestic dogs, dingoes breed seasonally only once rather than twice a year.	82 KB	Oct 2000
Egg-Laying Mammals	In 1791, early European explorers of Australia astounded scientists with reports of furry creatures that laid eggs.	130 KB	Nov 2000
Humpback Whales	The Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) occurs in all oceans of the world. Its predictable migration routes between winter breeding and summer feeding grounds once made it an easy target for whalers.	119 KB	Sep 2000
Kangaroos and their kin	Australian marsupials that have powerful hind limbs, long hind feet and usually move in a hopping gait when travelling fast are known as the macropods.	417 KB	Nov 2000
The Koala	The koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) is one of the most familiar native Australian mammals. It is easily recognised by its soft grey and white fur, large hairy ears and black bulbous nose.	85 KB	Oct 2000

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Reptiles and Amphibians
Name	Description	File Size	Published
Asian House Geckos	People in Brisbane, other parts of eastern Queensland and northern New South Wales are fast discovering a new, noisier house gecko lodging in their homes. The distinctive, clicking, 'chuck, chuck, chuck...' of the Asian House Gecko (Hemidactylus frenatus), has rapidly become part of the urban soundscape.	390 KB	2006
Blue and Pink-tongued Skinks	Blue and Pink-tongued skinks are among the largest of Australia's skinks (Family Scincidae). They live in close association with people in cities and cleared areas, as well as in bushland. In the Brisbane region, Blue-tongued and Pink-tongued Skinks are common and widespread.	100 KB	Sep 2000
Burton's Snake-Lizard	Every year countless 'legless lizards' are killed in the mistaken belief that they are dangerous snakes.	139 KB	Sep 2000
Cane Toads	Although not native to Australia, the Cane Toad has one of the widest ranges of any living toad. Originating in Central and South America, the Cane Toad has been introduced into several Pacific Islands and Australia. Elsewhere it is called the Marine Toad, Giant Toad or American Toad.	286 KB	Sep 2000
Crowned Snakes	Three species of crowned snakes are common in southern Queensland, including the Brisbane suburbs, while a fourth is confined to northern Queensland.	173 KB	Sep 2000
Dragons in Brisbane	Six species of dragons have been found in the greater Brisbane area. All are harmless.	264 KB	Sep 2000
Frogs in the Garden	Brisbane is a haven for frogs. About thirty-six different species have made their homes among the lush, subtropical habitats of the greater Brisbane area.	168 KB	Sep 2000
Keelback Snake	The Keelback Snake (Tropidonophis mairii), also known as the Freshwater Snake, is most common near fresh water and remains abundant along Brisbane's inner suburban creeks.	808 KB	Apr 2008
Pythons in Brisbane	The largest Australian snake is the Amethyst Python (Morelia amethistina) of northern Queensland and New Guinea . This slender species averages about 3.5 m, though there is an unsubstantiated record of 8 m.	120 KB	Sep 2000
Tree Snakes	Although most terrestrial snakes are competent climbers, few species in the Brisbane suburbs are experts. Only three local species are regularly encountered in elevated sites, hence identification of snakes seen up trees or among building rafters tends to be a fairly simple procedure.	89 KB	Sep 2000
Verreaux's Skink	Verreaux's skink (Anomalopus verreauxii) is one of the common burrowing skinks in south-east Queensland and is frequently un-earthed by Brisbane gardners.	655 KB	May 2008
Whip Snakes and Marsh Snakes	Brisbane supports a rich snake fauna, with more than 20 different in the suburbs, peripheral bushland and Moreton Bay. Several species find the human environment to their liking and can be found even in the most densely settled parts of Brisbane.	83 KB	Nov 2000

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Spiders and their relatives
Name	Description	File Size	Published
Australian Paralysis Tick	Almost all tick bites on people in the humid coastal region of eastern Australia are from the Australian Paralysis Tick (Ixodes holocyclus).	404 KB	Jun 2008
Redback Spider and Brown Widow Spider	Redbacks occur throughout Australia, but are common where the natural environment has been disturbed. They are a particular problem in newly settled suburbs.	160 KB	Sep 2000
Ticks (general)	There are over 800 species of ticks worldwide, all of which feed exclusively on blood stolen from mammals, birds, reptiles or amphibians.	540 KB	May 2008

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Worms
Name	Description	File Size	Published
Gordian worms	Requests for identification and information about gordian worms are common for Queensland Museum staff during spring and summer (September to February).	396 KB	Nov 2006

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