Why Are Australian Animals So Unique, and How Did They Get There?
Noah's ark and how unique animals like the kangaroo, platypus, and emu came to reside in Australia (and nowhere else) from a global flood perspective
by Troy Lacey on February 4, 2022

Australia has some very unique animals. It is home to the only two extant monotremes (egg-laying mammals): the platypus and the echidna, also called the spiny anteater (although the echidna also inhabits New Guinea). It also has all but three marsupial orders living there, the exceptions being Didelphimorphia (which includes South American opossums and the Virginia possum), Paucituberculata (the caenolestid "rat" or "shrew" opossums), and Microbiotheria (the monito del monte Dromiciops gliroides).

Some of Australia’s marsupials are iconic, such as kangaroos, koalas, and wombats. They instantly bring to mind their Australian homeland. There are also large flightless birds native to Australia: the emu, cassowary, and the smallest species of penguin, aptly named the little penguin or the fairy penguin (they are also native to New Zealand). The infamous Tasmanian devil (which looks nothing like the Warner Brothers cartoon character) lives in Tasmania and has been reintroduced to the Australian mainland. The (likely) extinct Thylacine, also called the Tasmanian tiger, once called Tasmania and mainland Australia home. Just this brief listing of animals makes clear that Australian fauna is vastly different from what we see in North America, Europe, and Asia.

For creation biologists, palaeontologists, and researchers, one of the most frequently asked questions concerning animal biogeography is, Why Australia's animals are so unique? And the second is then, How did they get there? Perhaps the frequent sceptical questions, Did kangaroos hop all the way to Australia? and, Why aren't there marsupial fossil trails from Turkey to Australia? brings this into focus. Since Scripture states that all air-breathing terrestrial animal kinds left the ark and repopulated the world, creation researchers need to have viable answers to the question of Australia's fauna.

OLAADEGBU:


LEARN MORE

OLAADEGBU:


LEARN MORE