by BioEdge | Jun 15, 2020 | Biobullets
Testudines failed to colonise dry land on the world’s largest island because of its combination of salt and fire. Prof. Mumblebard claims: “Australia is the only vegetated continent lacking land tortoises. Terrestrial testudines didn’t reach Australia because this...
by BioEdge | Jun 15, 2020 | Biobullets
Prof. Mumblebard claims: “Mitchell grassland, the most extensive treeless grassland in Australia, is surprisingly poor in indigenous grazers. It is safe to assume that grazing marsupials were formerly common in this area (see the accompanying map) but have become...
by BioEdge | Jun 15, 2020 | Biobullets
The meanest frog can play myrmecophage. Prof. Mumblebard claims: “Any species of mammal, bird, reptile or amphibian that eats mainly ants and termites deserves to be called myrmecophagous – a technical term reserved for animals specialising on such a diet. This is...
by BioEdge | Jun 15, 2020 | Biobullets
An oxymoronic devotion to larvae. Prof. Mumblebard claims: “Direct care of eggs and larvae has evolved repeatedly in many families of amphibians, with frogs using particularly diverse parental tactics. Some frogs even have fathers that look after offspring, in...
by BioEdge | Jun 15, 2020 | Biobullets
Four wet legs need not damp evolution. Prof. Mumblebard claims: “In the evolution of vertebrates from fishes to mammals, amphibians represent the primitive stage of transition from water to land. To this day, amphibians remain limited by their ancestral...
