>Rather surprisingly, it seems the only real ‘central Australian finch’
is the Painted, being the only one apart from the widespread Zebra that
is found in Alice Springs
Maybe not quite so surprising Geoffrey, given that finches are relative
newcomers to Australia. Even the oldest Australian finches - the
firetails - have probably only been here a few million years. (The
Zebbies, and Double-bars, apparently represent the second of the three
waves of invaders.) It's a bit of a rule of thumb in Australia that you
can measure the time that an immigrant group has been here by the number
of species of the group which have become arid-adapted.
thanks for the quiz!
IF
---
Ian Fraser,
Environment Tours; Vertego Environmental Wordsmithing
GPO Box 3268, Canberra, ACT 2601
ph: 61 2 6249 1560 fax: 61 2 6247 3227
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