15 Animals With The Longest Names In Australia

Below is a list of the animals with the longest names that have been found In Australia:

Black-shouldered Kite (Elanus Axillaris)
Blue-tongued Skink (Tiliqua scincoides)
Common Brushtail Possum (Trichosurus vulpecula)
Eastern Rosella (Platycercus eximius)
Green Tree Python (Morelia viridis)
Laughing Kookaburra (Dacelo Novaeguineae)
Red-necked Wallaby (Macropus Rufogriseus)
Satin Bowerbird (Ptilonorhynchus Violaceus)
Short-beaked Echidna (Tachyglossus Aculeatus)
Spiny Leaf Insect (Phyllium spp.)
Tiliqua rugosa (Tiliqua rugosa)
Sugar Glider (Petaurus breviceps)
Tasmanian Devil (Sarcophilus harrisii)
Thorny Devil (Moloch horridus)
Yellow-footed Rock Wallaby (Petrogale xanthopus)

Let’s learn about them.

1. Black-shouldered Kite (Elanus Axillaris)

The black-shouldered kite, also known as the Australian black-shouldered kite, is a small bird of prey that lives all across Australia in open areas.

It looks somewhat like similar birds found in Africa, Eurasia, and North America, including one called the black-winged kite, which used to be confused with it.

The black-shouldered kite is about 14 inches long with a wingspan of 31 to 39 inches. It has mostly grey and white feathers with black marks near its red eyes and on its wings.

This bird is famous for its clear whistling call when it’s flying or hovering. In Australia, it can sometimes be mixed up with another bird called the letter-winged kite, which has black marks under its wings.

These kites form pairs and have babies from August to January. They do fancy flying and feeding displays while they court each other.

Also, they lay three or four eggs, which take about 30 days to hatch. The chicks are ready to fly on their own just five weeks after being born and can catch mice after only a week of leaving their nest.

In addition, the black-shouldered kite is a great hunter in grassy areas. It hovers and scans the ground to find small rodents, especially the house mouse.

It’s been doing well due to changes in the Australian landscape because of agriculture. Fortunately, it’s not in danger of going extinct, according to the experts who keep track of these things.

2. Blue-tongued Skink (Tiliqua scincoides)

Blue-tongued skinks are engaging lizards from Australasia, including Australia and some neighboring areas. They’re part of the skink family and are known for their large blue tongues which they use to scare away potential threats.

The color of their tongue can tell us how worried they are about a predator. These lizards are not speed demons; they have shorter legs, so they’re not as fast as some other lizards.

They’re also pretty shy and tend to keep to themselves. Blue-tongued skinks are mainly found in Australia, except for one species, the Tiliqua gigas, which lives in New Guinea and a few Indonesian islands.

There’s also a special type called the Tanimbar blue-tongued skink that hangs out on small Indonesian islands near Australia and New Guinea. In Tasmania, you can find the Blotched blue-tongued skink.

3. Common Brushtail Possum (Trichosurus vulpecula)

The common brushtail possum is a furry, tree-dwelling marsupial that’s native to Australia but has become a bit of a troublemaker in New Zealand.

It’s the second-largest possum species. These possums are night owls, so they’re active at night. They mostly munch on leaves, especially from eucalyptus trees, but they’re not too selective and might have a taste for small animals like rats now and then.

You can spot them in various colors, like silver-grey, brown, black, or gold. They’re adaptable, and you might see them in Australian cities and other environments where people have changed.

Also, they’re quite resourceful and can be found raiding fruit trees and vegetable gardens. In New Zealand, they were brought over in the 1850s to start a fur industry.

But without many natural predators and in the comfortable New Zealand climate, they thrived and caused problems for agriculture and conservation efforts.

4. Eastern Rosella (Platycercus eximius)

The eastern rosella is a colorful bird native to southeastern Australia, including Tasmania.

It’s also made its way to New Zealand, where it has established feral populations in various places, like the North Island, Taranaki, Waikato, Hutt Valley, and the hills around Dunedin in the South Island.

These birds are about 12 inches long with redheads and white cheeks. Their beaks are white, and their eyes are brown.

They have a red upper breast, which turns yellow and then pale green as you go down the body. Their back and shoulder feathers are black with yellow or green edges, creating a scalloped pattern.

Also, their wings and tail feathers are bluish, and their legs are grey. Females look similar to males but with duller colors and an underwing stripe, which males lack.

Juveniles are less vibrant and have that underwing stripe. However, Eastern rosellas mainly dine on fruit, seeds, flowers, and insects.

In their native range of eastern Australia, you can find them in woods, forests, gardens, and parks. Plus, In New Zealand, they’ve made themselves at home, starting from escaped cage birds, and you can spot them in various regions, including Auckland, Northland, Wellington, and Dunedin.

They’ve been around in New Zealand since about 1910, and they even have a bit of a mixed history with crimson rosellas.

5. Green Tree Python (Morelia viridis)

The green tree python is a fiery snake found in New Guinea, some Indonesian islands, and a part of Australia called the Cape York Peninsula.

It’s known for its bright green color and can grow up to about 6.6 feet long, with females being a bit larger and heavier than males.

These snakes are excellent tree-dwellers and mostly feed on small reptiles and mammals. People love them as pets, but their numbers in the wild have dropped due to the illegal trading of wild-caught green tree pythons in Indonesia.

Despite this, they’re not considered endangered according to the experts who watch them.

You can find the green tree python in various places, including parts of Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and the eastern coast of the Cape York Peninsula in Australia.

These snakes prefer to hang out in or near rainforests, and they spend most of their time up in trees or shrubs, although sometimes you might spot them on the ground. They share their home with another snake species called M. spilota and often compete for the same living space.

6. Laughing Kookaburra (Dacelo Novaeguineae)

The laughing kookaburra is part of the kingfisher family, known for its unique laugh-like call. It’s a big, sturdy bird with a white head and brown eye stripe.

Its upper body is mostly dark brown, but it has a cool light-blue patch on its wings. Underneath, it’s cream-white, and its tail has rufous and black stripes.

However, Male and female kookaburras look alike. These birds are native to eastern Australia and can also be found in New Zealand, Tasmania, and parts of Western Australia.

They live in eucalypt forests, woodlands, and even city parks. Kookaburras stick to the same territory all year and are loyal to their partners for life.

Breeding pairs sometimes have non-breeding youngsters from previous years to help raise the new chicks. Kookaburras are predators and feast on various small creatures like lizards, insects, worms, snakes, and even goldfish from garden ponds. They spot prey from a branch, then swoop down to catch it.

7. Red-necked Wallaby (Macropus Rufogriseus)

The red-necked wallaby is a medium-sized marsupial, a bit like a kangaroo but smaller. You can find them in the eastern and more temperate parts of Australia, including Tasmania.

These wallabies have also been taken to other countries, like New Zealand, the UK, Ireland, France, and Germany. They’re easy to spot with their black nose and paws, a white stripe on their upper lip, and a gray coat with a reddish tinge on their shoulders.

They can weigh around 30 to 41 pounds and are about 35 inches long, with males usually being larger than females. In fact, they look a lot like the black-striped wallaby, but they don’t have that black stripe on their back, and their fur is softer.

Red-necked wallabies like to hang out in coastal scrub and forests along the east coast of Australia, from Queensland to South Australia.

They’re also on Tasmania and some nearby islands. Interestingly, their numbers have grown in parts of Queensland and Tasmania due to less hunting and changes in the landscape, providing them with places to eat and rest. But they’re a bit less common in Victoria, and the reasons for this aren’t entirely clear.

8. Satin Bowerbird (Ptilonorhynchus Violaceus)

The satin bowerbird can be found only in eastern Australia. It’s known for its appearance and interesting behaviors. Mature male satin bowerbirds are a sight to behold with their violet-blue eyes and all-black color.

Their feathers have a special texture that creates a shiny, almost metallic, deep blue look. Younger males look like females and are often confused with them.

Female satin bowerbirds might remind you of other birds like the green catbird or spotted catbird. They have green/brown or entirely brown upper bodies and lighter lower bodies with a distinct pattern.

You can spot these birds in rainforests and tall forests in eastern Australia, stretching from southern Queensland down to Victoria. There’s also a separate group in the Wet Tropics of North Queensland.

9. Short-beaked Echidna (Tachyglossus Aculeatus)

The short-beaked echidna has been recorded in Australia and parts of New Guinea. It’s one of only four remaining echidna species and is the only member of the Tachyglossus genus.

These little animals are covered in fur and spines and have an unusual snout and a specialized tongue for catching insects quickly.

Also, they lay eggs which makes them one of the few mammals that do so. Short-beaked echidnas have strong front limbs and claws for burrowing.

They can tolerate high carbon dioxide levels and low oxygen levels, making them well-suited for life underground. When threatened, they curl into a ball and use their spines to deter predators.

They aren’t good in the heat, so they stay out of the sun and can even swim if necessary. During the Australian winter, they hibernate to save energy.

They only meet for mating, and the males have no role in raising their offspring. Baby echidnas grow rapidly on their mother’s nutrient-rich milk and eventually leave the pouch and their mother’s burrow at around six months of age.

While they are not endangered, human activities like hunting, habitat destruction, and the introduction of foreign predators have reduced their numbers in Australia.

10. Spiny Leaf Insect (Phyllium spp.)

The spiny leaf insect, also known as the giant prickly stick insect, Macleay’s specter, or the Australian walking stick, is a unique Australian insect.

These bugs are mainly found in rainforests in eastern Australia, particularly in New South Wales and Queensland, but you might spot them in Victoria and South Australia too.

The female spiny leaf insects are pretty remarkable. They’re covered in thorn-like spikes, which serve as both a defense mechanism and excellent camouflage.

These ladies can grow to about 8 inches long. However, they can’t fly because their wings are too small, especially when they’re carrying eggs.

But, the males are quite different. They are smaller, about 4.5 inches long, and have long wings which makes them skilled flyers.

Unlike the females, they lack the spiky growths, except for a few around their faces. In addition, these insects are a great example of sexual dimorphism, where males and females of the same species look very different.

11. Tiliqua rugosa (Tiliqua rugosa)

The shingleback skink is a slow-moving lizard discovered in Australia. It has a short, wide, stumpy tail that looks like its head, which can confuse predators.

This tail also stores fat, which the lizard uses during winter brumation, a bit like hibernation but without deep sleep. These lizards are omnivores, meaning they eat both snails and plants.

They spend a lot of time rummaging through vegetation to find their meals, and they are known to bask on roadsides and paved areas, where you might spot them.

The shingleback skink has several common names, depending on where you are in Australia, such as two-headed skink, stumpy lizard, stumpy-tailed skink, bogeye, boggi, and even pinecone lizard. In the Noongar Aboriginal language, it’s called “yoorn.”

You can find different subspecies of these lizards, with some in Western Australia known as bobtails and one in eastern Australia called the eastern shingleback. These peculiar creatures are an interesting part of Australia’s wildlife.

12. Sugar Glider (Petaurus breviceps)

The sugar glider is a small, tree-dwelling possum known for its ability to glide through the air, much like a flying squirrel.

Despite the resemblance, they’re not closely related. Their scientific name, Petaurus breviceps, means “short-headed rope-dancer” in Latin, referring to their acrobatic canopy skills.

Sugar gliders have a pair of gliding membranes, called patagia that stretch from their front to hind legs, which help them reach food and escape predators. These creatures are covered in soft, pale grey to light brown fur, with a lighter underside.

In a strict sense, sugar gliders are native to southeastern Australia, while a broader group of related species inhabits coastal eastern and northern Australia, New Guinea, and nearby islands.

These animals have gained popularity as exotic pets, though some pet sugar gliders in the United States belong to a closely related species originating from West Papua which creates some taxonomic uncertainty.

READ ALSO: What Does A Snake Nest Look Like?

13. Tasmanian Devil (Sarcophilus harrisii)

The Tasmanian devil is a carnivorous marsupial, that has been identified in Australia but is now only found in Tasmania. About the size of a small dog, it’s the largest carnivorous marsupial since the thylacine’s extinction in 1936.

These stocky creatures are known for their black fur, pungent odor, loud screeches, sharp sense of smell, and ferocity while feeding.

They have one of the strongest bites relative to their body size among all land predators. Tasmanian devils are usually solitary but sometimes share meals and restroom breaks in communal areas.

Despite their appearance, they are surprisingly fast, can climb trees, and swim. They aren’t monogamous and have intense male competition for mates.

Their population is threatened by the devil facial tumor disease (DFTD), which has led to their classification as an endangered species.

Efforts are underway to protect and conserve these iconic creatures, as they are a symbol of Tasmania and vital for tourism. The Tasmanian devil even inspired the famous Looney Tunes character of the same name

14. Thorny Devil (Moloch horridus)

The thorny devil is a lizard species found only in Australia, and these creatures are different in their appearance, with two large horned scales on their head, giving them a dragon-like or devilish look.

Thorny devils typically grow up to 8.3 inches in length, with females usually larger than males. While they resemble North American horned lizards, they are only related.

However, these lizards are well adapted to the arid scrubland and desert of central Australia, primarily living in areas with sandy loam soils.

15. Yellow-Footed Rock Wallaby (Petrogale xanthopus)

The yellow-footed rock wallaby, previously known as the ring-tailed rock wallaby, is a member of the macropod family, which includes kangaroos and wallabies.

These wallabies are gray to fawn-gray on their upper side and lighter under, with a black stripe running down their back from the head to the center of their back.

They have typical white cheek stripes and ears that can be orange or gray-brown. However, their tails are orange-brown with dark and golden-brown rings, and the tips can vary from dark brown to white.

These rock wallabies measure around 600 mm in head and body length, have a tail of about 690 mm, and weigh between 6 to 11 kg.

You can spot these creatures in western New South Wales, eastern South Australia, and some parts of Queensland. They prefer rocky terrains and remote areas and avoid human habitation.

Kenny Obi

Hi, I’m Kenny Obi and I have a passion for content on animals. I and my team carry out thorough research to ensure that you get reliable info from every post on this blog.

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