Australia (continent) meanings: travel writer Paul Theroux included New Zealand in his definition and others have used it for Australia, New Zealand and Hawaii. Another biologist, Richard Dawkins, coined the name "Australinea" in 2004. "Australia-New Guinea" has also been used. With a total land area of , the Australian continent is the smallest, and second-lowest human inhabited (after Antarctica) continent on Earth. The continental shelf connecting the islands, half of which is less than deep, covers some , including the Sahul Shelf and Bass Strait. As the country of Australia is mostly on a single landmass, and comprises most of the continent,
Smallest organisms mass and drinks eight times its total body mass each day. Its nest is 3 cm across. The vulnerable Kitti's hog-nosed bat ("Craseonycteris thonglongyai"), also known as the bumblebee bat, from Thailand and Myanmar is the smallest mammal, at in length and in weight. The Etruscan shrew ("Suncus etruscus"), is the smallest mammal by mass, weighing only about on average. The bumblebee bat has a smaller skull size. The smallest mammal that ever lived, the shrew-like "Batodonoides vanhouteni", weighed only . The smallest member of the rodent order is the Baluchistan pygmy jerboa, with an average body length of only