10 Australian Desert Animals

Australian Desert Animals by Yara S. Mignon Table of Contents Chapter 1 Deserts Down Under page 2 Chapter 2 Amazing Desert Animals. page 4 Chapter 3 Desert Birds page 8 Chapter 4 Desert Reptiles and Amphibians page 10 Chapter 5 Desert Arachnids page 12 Glossary/ Index page 15 Comprehension Check page 16

澳大利亚沙漠动物作者:Yara S。 米尼翁目录第一章澳大利亚沙漠第二页神奇的沙漠动物。 第4页第3章沙漠鸟类第8页第4章沙漠爬行动物和两栖动物第10页第5章沙漠蜘蛛纲动物第12页词汇表/索引第15页理解检查第16页

Chapter 1 Deserts Down Under Australia is the smallest and driest continent. It has 10 deserts. All deserts are quite dry. Days are very hot, and nights are very cold. But many plants and animals have adapted to desert life. Aboriginal (a-buh-RIJ-i-nuhl) people have adapted, too. They have lived in Australia for 40,000 years. Many of them still hunt small animals and gather the sparse desert plants. Some people work as desert rangers. A ranger's job is to care for the land and the animals that live there. AUSTRALIA Great Sandy Desert Tanami Desert Great Victoria Desert Simpson Desert yellow Desert Area The Great Sandy Desert is the hottest Australian desert. The Tanami Desert has many hills and ranges. There are many salt lakes in the Great Victoria Desert. The Simpson Desert is the driest part of Australia. Australia is a continent. The Great Sandy, Tanami, Great Victoria, and Simpson Deserts are Australia's largest deserts. They cover most of its area.

澳大利亚是世界上最小、最干燥的大陆。 它有10个沙漠。所有的沙漠都很干燥。 白天很热，晚上很冷。 但是许多植物和动物已经适应了沙漠生活。 土著居民也适应了。 他们已经在澳大利亚生活了4万年。 他们中的许多人仍然捕猎小动物，采集稀疏的沙漠植物。 有些人是沙漠护林员。 护林员的工作是照顾土地和生活在那里的动物。 澳大利亚大沙漠塔纳米沙漠大维多利亚沙漠辛普森沙漠黄色沙漠地区大沙漠是澳大利亚最热的沙漠。 塔纳米沙漠有许多山丘和山脉。 大维多利亚沙漠中有许多盐湖。 辛普森沙漠是澳大利亚最干燥的地区。 澳大利亚是一个大陆。大沙漠、塔纳米沙漠、大维多利亚沙漠和辛普森沙漠是澳大利亚最大的沙漠。 它们覆盖了它的大部分区域。

Chapter 2 Amazing Desert Animals The desert is home to the kangaroo, which is the largest marsupial. A female carries her baby, called a joey, in a pouch on her stomach. A joey stays in its mother's pouch for months. For safety, kangaroos gather to eat in groups called mobs. If one senses danger, it stamps its foot. Then the mob scatters. Only male red kangaroos are red. Females have gray fur on their backs. More than 200 kinds of marsupials live in or near Australia. The numbat often hides in old, hollow logs. Most desert marsupials have strong, sharp claws. They use their claws to dig for insects to eat. The numbat uses its long, sticky tongue to eat termites. Unlike many marsupials, the numbat is active during the day. Because of the bands on its back, the numbat is also called the banded anteater. A Tail of Food It is hard to find food in the desert. So some marsupials store their food. The fat-tailed marsupial mouse stores food in its tail.

这片沙漠是袋鼠的家园，袋鼠是最大的有袋类动物。 雌袋鼠肚子上的育儿袋里装着它的小袋鼠。 小袋鼠在妈妈的育儿袋里待上几个月。 为了安全起见，袋鼠会成群结队地吃东西。 如果一个人感觉到危险，他就跺脚。 然后暴徒们散开了。只有雄性红袋鼠是红色的。 雌性的背上有灰色的毛。 超过200种有袋动物生活在澳大利亚或附近。 麻木蝠经常躲在旧的空心木头里。 大多数沙漠有袋动物都有强壮锋利的爪子。 它们用爪子挖昆虫来吃。 它用又长又粘的舌头吃白蚁。 与许多有袋类动物不同，麻猴在白天活动。 因为它背上的条纹，麻蝠也被称为带状食蚁兽。 在沙漠中很难找到食物。 所以一些有袋动物储存食物。 肥尾有袋动物老鼠把食物储存在尾巴里。

Some animals in the Australian desert come from distant places. Explorers brought camels with them more than 150 years ago. Camels need very little water. They get moisture from the foods they eat. Camels can go for months without taking a drink of water. That has helped them adapt to life in these deserts. Desert Ship People used to ride camels across the Australian desert. Camels were called "ships of the desert." Now cars and railroads have become more common. Camels store fat, not water, in their humps. This fat gives them energy when there is no food. A dingo is a wild dog. It hunts alone or in a small group. Aboriginal people went to Australia from Asia about 10,000 years ago. Dingoes went with them. Some dingoes were pets. Pets that escape are called feral animals. Feral animals are a big problem. Wild dingoes are feral. They hunt at night. They hunt bilbies and other small marsupials. Now there are fewer of these small marsupials. Bilbies were once found all over Australia. Now with only small clusters living in a few areas, they are threatened with extinction.

澳大利亚沙漠中的一些动物来自遥远的地方。 150多年前，探险家们带着骆驼。 骆驼只需要很少的水。 它们从所吃的食物中获取水分。 骆驼可以几个月不喝水。 这帮助它们适应了沙漠中的生活。 过去人们骑骆驼穿越澳大利亚沙漠。 骆驼被称为“沙漠之舟”。 现在汽车和铁路变得越来越普遍。 骆驼在驼峰中储存脂肪，而不是水。 这种脂肪在没有食物的时候给它们能量。 澳洲野狗是一种野狗。它独自或在一个小群体中狩猎。 原住民大约在1万年前从亚洲来到澳大利亚。 野狗和他们一起去了。有些野狗是宠物。 逃跑的宠物被称为野生动物。 野生动物是个大问题。 野生野狗是野生动物。他们在夜间狩猎。 它们捕食兔耳袋狸和其他小型有袋动物。 现在这种小型有袋动物越来越少了。 兔耳袋狸曾经遍布澳大利亚。 现在，它们只生活在少数地区，面临灭绝的威胁。

Chapter 3 Desert Birds Desert birds are amazing animals. The emu is a huge bird that does not fly. It runs fast— up to 30 miles (50 kilometers) per hour! Like emus, many other desert birds can travel hundreds of miles in search of food. When there is lots of food, emus store fat. When the lakes are dry, the birds move away. They use their stored fat until they find a place with more food to eat. Emus can reach the same height as an adult person. Some birds hunt many kinds of animals. The wedge-tailed eagle is Australia's largest hunting bird. Each one has an area, or range, where it hunts for food. It will rarely fly far beyond its range. The wedge-tailed eagle has wings that are more than 2 yards (2 meters) wide.

沙漠鸟是一种神奇的动物。 鸸鹋是一种不会飞的大鸟。 它跑得很快——每小时可达30英里(50公里)!像鸸鹋一样，许多其他沙漠鸟类可以飞行数百英里寻找食物。 当有很多食物时，鸸鹋储存脂肪。 当湖泊干涸时，鸟就会飞走。 它们使用储存的脂肪，直到找到有更多食物的地方。 鸸鹋可以达到成年人的高度。 有些鸟捕食多种动物。 楔尾鹰是澳大利亚最大的猎禽。 每一种动物都有自己的觅食区域。 它很少飞出它的射程。 楔尾鹰的翅膀超过2码(2米)宽。