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[TheSpoiler]

So, we have that G/A/F shit, and recently a family found a blue ringed octopus in a tennis ball. A bite from that can fuck you up. We all have our gifs, our laughs, and our fears, but is there an environmental reason why that country hosts the most deadliest creatures per capita?

This is a stupid question, but stay with me.

Evolutionary traits generally get passed down from an animal with superior traits that allowed it to last longer, reproduce more, survive being hunted, and catch prey better. As an example, there is a type of fly that determines their mates by who wins a contest of headbutting.

Some of the flies developed a larger head, either as a genetic defect or what have you. That fly had a huge advantage, so therefore he breeds a bunch more, and now that larger headed fly is a more common type than usual, while the normal one before him is pushed to the wayside.

(It could also be the case that he just outlived or outplayed other flies. Victory in the sense of evolution isn't always determined by overpowering the competition but sometimes just getting lucky enough to live and reproduce, spreading that advantage around. )

I'm simplifying what is a huge and interesting process, and not doing it justice, but there you go.

So, what makes Australia so different? I realize most habitats aren't near each other, but what makes the dozens of poisonous snakes feel the need to be poisoned filled than other areas?

I feel like a 4th grader asking this.

 

[Enter the Dragon Punch]

not all of the criminals that founded Australia were human

just very angry animals

 

[Surface of Me]

The British actually got the idea to send their criminals/convicts there because it seemed as if mother nature was already doing that with her creatures.

 

[Sub_Level]

It was a chain reaction. One dangerous species caused evolution to favor another dangerous species and so on and so forth. The spiders have to be tough to survive the snakes. The snake have to be tough to survive the spiders. Its an ongoing war that has raged for millions of years.

 

[Maximo]

Isolated from the rest of the world, nature tends to breed some scary mother fuckers when shes left alone.

 

[DrForester]

Does it really have the most deadliest creatures? I figure it was just a stereotype and assumed either Africa or South America would have far more deadly creatures.

 

[Sub_Level]

Isolated from the rest of the world, nature tends to breed some scary mother fuckers when shes left alone.

The Galápagos islands don't have many asshole animals and insects though.

 

[KAP151]

Isolated from the rest of the world, nature tends to breed some scary mother fuckers when shes left alone.

This. The isolation, plus the climate.

I live in Victoria (south), so we have way less deadly shit down here. I feel sorry for the guys in Far North. They have way more shit to worry about. Jellyfish, salt water crocs, snakes etc that we dont see here at all.

 

[TheSpoiler]

Isolated from the rest of the world, nature tends to breed some scary mother fuckers when shes left alone.

I feel like there might be some truth to this. The more room, the more chances for resources, so the evolutionary track wouldn't need to keep up as fast. But that's not something that's controllable.

Does it really have the most deadliest creatures? I figure it was just a stereotype and assumed either Africa or South America would have far more deadly creatures.

Mostly due to the various types of snakes that pad the numbers. Although having "the worst" or "some of the worst" in one single area definitely helps the standard.

 

[Jintor]

The Galápagos islands don't have many asshole animals and insects though.

they're not nearly as huge as australia. i expect the diversity of environments is a big factor in 'arms races' as well

 

[Random17]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myh94hpFmJY

^ Veritasium explains how temperature and other factors correlates with deadly creatures. Note that temperature does not have as big of an effect as people think.


Although sometimes it is coincidence:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_funnel-web_spider

Venom from this spider is deadly to primates, much more so than other creatures. Primates were not in contact with this spider and its dangerous venom is deadly to humans by sheer coincidence.

 

[chicko1983]

Does it really have the most deadliest creatures? I figure it was just a stereotype and assumed either Africa or South America would have far more deadly creatures.

Its something like 15 of the top 20 most deadly snakes are from Australia (with some of them found in backyards in suburbia).

But other than that and some deadly spiders, you don't have to worry about much.

Crocodiles are remote, Kangaroos are only deadly if you fight them, and Dropbears are being becoming extinct due to their habitats being destroyed by urban development, so they are no longer a major threat to humans.

 

[ChawlieTheFair]

Actually scientifically, if you sit and listen to anyone from Canberra long enough, you will eventually evolve the poison and the bite needed to shut them up.

 

[KAP151]

The Galápagos islands don't have many asshole animals and insects though.

Chalk and cheese.

Size, climates, terrain etc.

 

[The Mule]

If you were to look at Australia's track record you'd be forgiven for thinking it's to ward off emigrants and keep them out.

 

[triplestation]

austrailia has the most optimal climate for life to grow in so more life will grow and they have to compete for survival so they get creative

i bet theres a mammal that shoots poison from its ass, i just made this up but i bet you it lives in australia

 

[Ziltoidia 9]

Australia is huge, basically as big as the US, and with the outback so big, rough situations to live in, etc, seems like that is why there are so many deadly creatures there.

 

[Subpar Scrub]

This. The isolation, plus the climate.

I live in Victoria (south), so we have way less deadly shit down here. I feel sorry for the guys in Far North. They have way more shit to worry about. Jellyfish, salt water crocs, snakes etc that we dont see here at all.

Yeah this.

And lol, yeah I'm in QLD and we have brown snake warnings every summer. Even signs at the beach and stuff.

Atleast we don't get funnel webs up here though. I hate spiders more than snakes, of which I've removed many from my acreage property. Mostly carpet pythons and green snakes, with few red belly blacks and Browns mixed in.

 

[PlayALLtheGames]

Many reasons: environmental, biological, random and more. Australia ended up in an area with a favorable climate for those types of animals and being separated probably has something to do with it. The deadly creatures have been lucky with not being predated out of existence. Overall it's like asking is there a reason that somewhere else doesn't have the most deadliest creatures? It's just the way it played out. In some way, they won a lottery. A horrible, nightmarish, potentially deadly lottery; one where you're scared to walk to the bathroom at night because you might step on a tarantula. God bless you people and your bravery.

 

[Chichikov]

This is Australia's terrestrial apex predator -

Unless you're Meryl Streep's baby, that shit is LOL-worthy.

Meanwhile, in north America -

Which is to say, U-S-A! U-S... err sorry, I meant to say, Australia doesn't have the most deadliest creatures, it does have a lot of venomous animals, it's a bit overblown but given the size of its land mass it there are a high number of them.
I don't think that we know exactly why (at least I never read a really good explanation), some of it have to do with the type of environment there and it might just be that random act off isolated evolution.

 

[chicko1983]

austrailia has the most optimal climate for life to grow in so more life will grow and they have to compete for survival so they get creative

i bet theres a mammal that shoots poison from its ass, i just made this up but i bet you it lives in australia

Its more like its not optimal climate at all (heat and lack of water) so competition for survival is so harsh.

As for the mammal that shoots poison from its ass, Ive never heard of one.

 

[The Silver]

I would guess Aus being as isolated as it is combined with being a very harsh place made it very advantagous for animals to have venom so they don't have to spend so much energy hunting down prey.


Of course that doesn't explain the marine animals.

 

[Subpar Scrub]

austrailia has the most optimal climate for life to grow in so more life will grow and they have to compete for survival so they get creative

i bet theres a mammal that shoots poison from its ass, i just made this up but i bet you it lives in australia

Platypus is a mammal with venomous barbs on their feet

Close enough haha

 

[ThoseDeafMutes]

Does Australia really have most of the deadliest creatures or is that just your perception of matters? There are several creatures in Australia that are very highly poisonous, but the country is not filled to the brim with things you have to watch out for. There's loads of harmless or nearly harmless creatures. Stuff like huge bears and big cats aren't a danger here while they are in the Americas or Afro-Eurasia. Purely measuring who has the most poisonous snake or spider doesn't give a good overall perspective of how comparatively dangerous an area, or how deadly the animals are on average. You would need to actually compare real death-rates. Would tropical climates full of malaria not count as containing some of the deadliest creatures on earth? There are many famous instances where non-native species were introduced into Australia and thrived to the point that they started wiping out native animals that fill the same ecological niche. Australian animals often get shitstomped when faced with Eurasian competitors.

As to why Australia has very unique flora and fauna, isolation is indeed the answer. In the absence of certain specific animals, new "solutions" to the same evolutionary "problems" can arise without having to worry about being out-competed by pre-existing competitors. Sometimes, being "worse" to begin with will eventually pay off long term, this is in search terms what we would call a local maximum problem. Isolated environments that sometimes connect with each other over geological timescales allow for little lab experiments to run off somewhere else before being forced to compete in the major leagues. Sometimes the experiments are superior, often they aren't. But they're frequently unique.

 

[FUME5]

We all had sex with Gods mom and, boy, was he not happy about it.

i bet theres a mammal that shoots poison from its ass, i just made this up but i bet you it lives in australia

Yeah, there's about 23.13 million of them.

 

[Enter the Dragon Punch]

Does Australia really have most of the deadliest creatures or is that just your perception of matters? There are several creatures in Australia that are very highly poisonous, but the country is not filled to the brim with things you have to watch out for. There's loads of harmless or nearly harmless creatures. Stuff like huge bears and big cats aren't a danger here while they are in the Americas or Afro-Eurasia. Purely measuring who has the most poisonous snake or spider doesn't give a good overall perspective of how comparatively dangerous an area, or how deadly the animals are on average. You would need to actually compare real death-rates. Would tropical climates full of malaria not count as containing some of the deadliest creatures on earth? There are many famous instances where non-native species were introduced into Australia and thrived to the point that they started wiping out native animals that fill the same ecological niche. Australian animals often get shitstomped when faced with Eurasian competitors.

As to why Australia has every unique flora and fauna, isolation is indeed the answer. In the absence of certain specific animals, new "solutions" to the same evolutionary "problems" can arise without having to worry about being out-competed by pre-existing competitors. Sometimes, being "worse" to begin with will eventually pay off long term, this is in search terms what we would call a local maximum problem. Isolated environments that sometimes connect with each other over geological timescales allow for little lab experiments to run off somewhere else before being forced to compete in the major leagues. Sometimes the experiments are superior, often they aren't. But they're frequently unique.

for one reason or another i can't stop reading this and picturing you as a very dangerous, poisonous creature from australia trying to convince people to visit

 

[Random17]

Does Australia really have most of the deadliest creatures or is that just your perception of matters? There are several creatures in Australia that are very highly poisonous, but the country is not filled to the brim with things you have to watch out for. There's loads of harmless or nearly harmless creatures. Stuff like huge bears and big cats aren't a danger here while they are in the Americas or Afro-Eurasia. Purely measuring who has the most poisonous snake or spider doesn't give a good overall perspective of how comparatively dangerous an area, or how deadly the animals are on average. You would need to actually compare real death-rates. Would tropical climates full of malaria not count as containing some of the deadliest creatures on earth? There are many famous instances where non-native species were introduced into Australia and thrived to the point that they started wiping out native animals that fill the same ecological niche. Australian animals often get shitstomped when faced with Eurasian competitors.

As to why Australia has every unique flora and fauna, isolation is indeed the answer. In the absence of certain specific animals, new "solutions" to the same evolutionary "problems" can arise without having to worry about being out-competed by pre-existing competitors. Sometimes, being "worse" to begin with will eventually pay off long term, this is in search terms what we would call a local maximum problem. Isolated environments that sometimes connect with each other over geological timescales allow for little lab experiments to run off somewhere else before being forced to compete in the major leagues. Sometimes the experiments are superior, often they aren't. But they're frequently unique.

Australia has a shit ton of tropical diseases, especially in the areas of North QLD which are tropical climates. Unlike developing countries, Australia is better at controlling them and/or eliminating local cases. Examples of disease control include dengue fever and malaria.

Isolation doesn't explain NZ, which has very few dangerous animals. No dangerous native mammals, no snakes, and only two native species of poisonous spiders, one of which is not deadly, and another one which runs away from humans consistently.

 

[Maximo]

Does Australia really have most of the deadliest creatures or is that just your perception of matters? There are several creatures in Australia that are very highly poisonous, but the country is not filled to the brim with things you have to watch out for. There's loads of harmless or nearly harmless creatures. Stuff like huge bears and big cats aren't a danger here while they are in the Americas or Afro-Eurasia. Purely measuring who has the most poisonous snake or spider doesn't give a good overall perspective of how comparatively dangerous an area, or how deadly the animals are on average. You would need to actually compare real death-rates. Would tropical climates full of malaria not count as containing some of the deadliest creatures on earth? There are many famous instances where non-native species were introduced into Australia and thrived to the point that they started wiping out native animals that fill the same ecological niche. Australian animals often get shitstomped when faced with Eurasian competitors.

As to why Australia has every unique flora and fauna, isolation is indeed the answer. In the absence of certain specific animals, new "solutions" to the same evolutionary "problems" can arise without having to worry about being out-competed by pre-existing competitors. Sometimes, being "worse" to begin with will eventually pay off long term, this is in search terms what we would call a local maximum problem. Isolated environments that sometimes connect with each other over geological timescales allow for little lab experiments to run off somewhere else before being forced to compete in the major leagues. Sometimes the experiments are superior, often they aren't. But they're frequently unique.

Don't believe his lies Australia is a hostile Mad Max wasteland of convicts and deadly animals.

 

[TheSpoiler]

I guess death rates and injuries would be a far better determiner.

But then again how do I know some of you aren't a fucking spider behind the computer?

 

[Laughing Banana]

Maybe it's the accent

 

[brochiller]

Many of the creatures in Australia evolved independently since it has been an island for so long. This is why you see such unique traits in the creatures of Australia, such as the "pouch" in kangaroos.

 

[Jintor]

If you were to look at Australia's track record you'd be forgiven for thinking it's to ward off emigrants and keep them out.

utterly dismal failure in late 1700s or so. not enough venom artillery batteries

 

[Mohonky]

Platypus is a mammal with venomous barbs on their feet

Close enough haha

Thats what I was thinking but technically its a monotreme, it lays eggs like an echidna.

We don't get 'big' creatures that kill you with force and / or claws, we just seemed to get all the stingy bitey shit.

 

[Maximo]

I guess death rates and injuries would be a far better determiner.

But then again how do I know some of you aren't a fucking spider behind the computer?

Its a recent growing epidemic.

 

[Aarglefarg]

I'm Australian and my biggest animal fear is crows. They swoop at me a lot. The scariness of animals here is generally exaggerated.

You would need to actually compare real death-rates.

Someone in a recent thread did this between Australia and the US, with Australia having double the average annual death rate caused by non-human animals. Maybe it's counted differently between countries etc.

 

[FormallyMegadrive]

This. The isolation, plus the climate.

I live in Victoria (south), so we have way less deadly shit down here. I feel sorry for the guys in Far North. They have way more shit to worry about. Jellyfish, salt water crocs, snakes etc that we dont see here at all.

What? I've had snakes in my backyard and paddocks plenty of times. Jellyfish down at Williamstown and Altona beaches too. Just because St Kilda beach doesn't have anything.

Its something like 15 of the top 20 most deadly snakes are from Australia (with some of them found in backyards in suburbia).

But other than that and some deadly spiders, you don't have to worry about much.

Crocodiles are remote, Kangaroos are only deadly if you fight them, and Dropbears are being becoming extinct due to their habitats being destroyed by urban development, so they are no longer a major threat to humans.

Someone's never driven on a country highway at night.

 

[Replicant]

If you see the old map of the world, Australia is drawn with what looks like Hellish creatures. So maybe my country was Hell before.

 

[Yrael]

Does Australia really have most of the deadliest creatures or is that just your perception of matters? There are several creatures in Australia that are very highly poisonous, but the country is not filled to the brim with things you have to watch out for. There's loads of harmless or nearly harmless creatures. Stuff like huge bears and big cats aren't a danger here while they are in the Americas or Afro-Eurasia. Purely measuring who has the most poisonous snake or spider doesn't give a good overall perspective of how comparatively dangerous an area, or how deadly the animals are on average. You would need to actually compare real death-rates. Would tropical climates full of malaria not count as containing some of the deadliest creatures on earth? There are many famous instances where non-native species were introduced into Australia and thrived to the point that they started wiping out native animals that fill the same ecological niche. Australian animals often get shitstomped when faced with Eurasian competitors.

As to why Australia has very unique flora and fauna, isolation is indeed the answer. In the absence of certain specific animals, new "solutions" to the same evolutionary "problems" can arise without having to worry about being out-competed by pre-existing competitors. Sometimes, being "worse" to begin with will eventually pay off long term, this is in search terms what we would call a local maximum problem. Isolated environments that sometimes connect with each other over geological timescales allow for little lab experiments to run off somewhere else before being forced to compete in the major leagues. Sometimes the experiments are superior, often they aren't. But they're frequently unique.

This.

Australia's wildlife is unique largely because of the country's isolation. The environment helps too - its venomous creatures, snakes and spiders, tend to live inactive lifestyles and don't eat very often, which helps when they live in such a hot arid environment and need to conserve resources.

In addition to a high proportion of venomous creatures, Australia also has by far the largest population of marsupials. It's interesting to see how convergent evolution has resulted in the marsupials of Australia filling the ecological niches occupied by placental mammals in other continents:

 

[DiscoJer]

I would imagine because the inhabitants didn't exterminate all the deadly stuff thousands of years ago.

 

[Subpar Scrub]

What? I've had snakes in my backyard and paddocks plenty of times. Jellyfish down at Williamstown and Altona beaches too. Just because St Kilda beach doesn't have anything.



Someone's never driven on a country highway at night.

1. Atleast down there you don't get irukandji jellyfish

2. Yeah, I've seen a big red roo dent the front of a semi so hard it split a radiator hose, roo flew a couple metres, landed in a paddock and got up, jumped away with a limp.

Country roads are scary AF, especially out near moogerah and stuff where there's no fences stopping cattle from wandering into the 90km/h+ roads.

 

[Elaugaufein]

This.

Australia's wildlife is unique largely because of the country's isolation. The environment helps too - its venomous creatures, snakes and spiders, tend to live inactive lifestyles and don't eat very often, which helps when they live in such a hot arid environment and need to conserve resources.

In addition to a high proportion of venomous creatures, Australia also has by far the largest population of marsupials. It's interesting to see how convergent evolution has resulted in the marsupials of Australia filling the ecological niches occupied by placental mammals in other continents:

The hot / arid bit and general lack of resources is probably why we lack really large predators too, it's much more energy efficient to be venomous than to be large.

This is Australia's terrestrial apex predator -

Unless you're Meryl Streep's baby, that shit is LOL-worthy.

Meanwhile, in north America -

Which is to say, U-S-A! U-S... err sorry, I meant to say, Australia doesn't have the most deadliest creatures, it does have a lot of venomous animals, it's a bit overblown but given the size of its land mass it there are a high number of them.
I don't think that we know exactly why (at least I never read a really good explanation), some of it have to do with the type of environment there and it might just be that random act off isolated evolution.

It's also really not fair to compare dingoes to bears one one one. Dingoes hunt in packs (up to 12 animals) when going after larger prey , they are only solitary when acting as scavengers

 

[Walpurgis]

It is a cursed land. There are other isolated land masses but only one Australia. I think it is an example of how Earth looks like in the worst timeline.

I would honestly rather be in South Africa than Australia.

Lions and shit >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> super deadly snakes, flies that eat you from within and freaking mammoth spiders, any day of the week.

The greatest thing that South Africa has over Australia is the fact that I don't need to carry a bloody Pokedex.

 

[Elaugaufein]

It is a cursed land. There are other isolated land masses but only one Australia. I think it is an example of how Earth looks like in the worst timeline.

I would honestly rather be in South Africa than Australia.

Lions and shit >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> super deadly snakes, flies that eat you from within and freaking mammoth spiders, any day of the week.

The greatest thing that South Africa has over Australia is the fact that I don't need to carry a bloody Pokedex.

If it makes you feel better we're pretty good at producing anti-venom for most of our deadly things so as long as you stay within about an hour of a hospital you should generally be fine.

 

[Dryk]

I would imagine because the inhabitants didn't exterminate all the deadly stuff thousands of years ago.

Yeah... about that...

Quinkana was one of the last surviving terrestrial crocodiles, and disappears from the fossil records as recently as forty thousand years ago. This disappearance also coincides with the disappearance of many of the large mammals from Australia and is thought to be a result of the first humans arriving on the continent. Even if Quinkana did not come into direct conflict with human hunters, it may have simply been out competed by them.

There are two main features of Quinkana that suggest a terrestrial lifestyle. First are the legs that are better able to support and carry the body clear off the ground. Most of the crocodiles we know today are primarily aquatic and are only able to push themselves along on their bellies. The second feature is the type of tooth. Aquatic crocodiles typically have conical teeth that are very good for holding onto struggling prey as they drown it underwater.

 

[dity]

Honestly I'd rather a big bear over a funnel-web spider.

 

[Jintor]

I would imagine because the inhabitants didn't exterminate all the deadly stuff thousands of years ago.

There used to be a theory there used to be megafauna hopping around Australia that died off when humans migrated over the land bridges. Not sure as to accuracy.

 

[KiwiLannister]

<----- It's not just isolation

I imagine the lack of humans had something to do with the amount of predators as if we were there farming up a storm it would take away their food sources. I think someone else was also onto something with regard to venom being very efficient in such a hot environment.

 

[Jodast]

freaking mammoth spiders

The only massive spider an average Australian will see is the Huntsman and aside from being fast when trying to catch the buggers, they are harmless. Heck, a spider I'm pretty sure was a baby huntsman fell on my face last night when playing 3DS in bed. No bites and the thing was off before I could react. If it hadn't hit my eyelash I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have even noticed

Oh and just to have a bit of fun, this was found in Australia at Christmas last year :-D

http://www.techinsider.io/giant-goanna-lace-monitor-in-australia-is-real-2015-12

 

[Vigilant Walrus]

Surprised by the Veri video. That was cool.



I asked my biology teacher how not just Dinosaurs could get that big, but also species we still have. Giant Sharks, 30 meters long (whale sized), Crocodiles the length of a schoolbus..
How the fuck was that possible and why are those massive things not around anymore?

Apparently it has to do with the level of oxygen in the atmosphere. Higher oxygen leads to more excessive plant growth, which leads to more food for the plant species, which makes them grow excessively, which means evolutionary, the predators had to get really fucking big too.
The high levels of oxygen where caused by massive volcanic activity which funneled massive amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. It would have been hard to breath the air for us, and it would have been painfully hot. Probably unlivable around the equator.

If Yellowstone erupted tomorrow, it would kill most of the worlds population (maybe all) but it might lead to bigger species again. Imagine domestic household cats and dogs the size of a car. A Corgi the size of a Ford Focus. Gonna need a lot of pedigree for that. It would basically be like my neighbour totoro.

 

[shink]

I'm Australian and my biggest animal fear is crows. They swoop at me a lot. The scariness of animals here is generally exaggerated.


Someone in a recent thread did this between Australia and the US, with Australia having double the average annual death rate caused by non-human animals. Maybe it's counted differently between countries etc.

I hate Magpie mating season. I always have to stare them in the eyes so they don't attack me.