Australia

The Commonwealth of Australia, a sovereign country comprising the mainland of Australia, the island of Tasmania and a number of smaller islands, is the largest country in Oceania and the sixth largest in the world. Australia is the oldest, flattest and driest inhabited continent, with the least fertile soils. Although much of Australia is semi-desert or desert, the continent is home to a wide range of habitats, from alpine wastelands to tropical rainforests. The continent's great age, highly variable weather patterns and long-term geographical isolation make much of Australia's wildlife unique. About 85% of flowering plants, 84% of mammals, over 45% of birds and 89% of coastal temperate fish are endemic. Australia has at least 755 species of reptiles, more than any other country in the world. Australian forests are mostly evergreen species, especially eucalyptus trees in less arid regions. Well-known Australian animals the monotremes, the kangaroo, the koala, the wombat, the emu and the kookaburra. Australia is home to many dangerous animals, including some of the world's most venomous snakes. Apart from Antarctica, Australia is the only continent to have evolved without felines. Feral cats were introduced by Dutch shipwrecks in the 17th century and by European settlers in the 18th century. They are now thought to play a major role in the decline and extinction of many vulnerable and endangered native species. It is thought that Seafaring immigrants from Asia brought the dingo to Australia sometime after the end of the last ice age, and that the Aboriginal people helped to spread them as pets across the continent, contributing to the demise of the Tasmanian Tiger on the mainland.