Fauna of Australia in Australia, feeding on sea grass in coastal areas. The destruction of sea grass beds is a threat to the survival of this species. Eleven species of seal—family Pinnipedia—live off the southern coast. Australia and its territories are home to around 800 species of bird; 45% of these are endemic to Australia. The fossil record of birds in Australia is patchy; however, there are records of the ancestors of contemporary species as early as the Late Oligocene. Birds with a Gondwanan history include the flightless ratites (the emu and southern cassowary), megapodes (the malleefowl and Australian brush-turkey), and a huge
Emu in Australia at the time of European settlement, and one additional species is known from fossil remains. The insular dwarf emus, "D. baudinianus" and "D. n. minor", originally present on Kangaroo Island and King Island respectively, both became extinct shortly after the arrival of Europeans. "D. n. diemenensis", a subspecies known as the Tasmanian emu, became extinct around 1865. However, the mainland sub-species, "D. n. novaehollandiae", remains common. The population of these birds varies from decade to decade, largely being dependent on rainfall; in 2009, it was estimated that there were between 630,000 and 725,000 birds. Emus were introduced to