Laughing kookaburra there. He probably obtained a preserved specimen from one of the naturalists who accompanied Captain James Cook to the east coast of Australia. Edme-Louis Daubenton and François-Nicolas Martinet included a coloured plate of the laughing kookaburra based on Sonnerat's specimen in their "Planches enluminées d'histoire naturelle". The plate has the legend in French ""Martin-pecheur, de la Nouvelle Guinée"" (Kingfisher from New Guinea). In 1783, the French naturalist Johann Hermann provided a formal description of the species based the coloured plate by Daubenton and Martinet. He gave it the scientific name "Alcedo novæ Guineæ". The current genus "Dacelo" was introduced in
Invasive species of Australian origin such as the kereru, tui, and kaka. They are a carrier of tuberculosis which they spread to pasture and hence livestock. Control of them has been an ongoing project of regional councils, the Department of Conservation, Forest and Bird, and various other wildlife preservation organizations. Perhaps the best known example of an Australian plant becoming an invasive species is the problematic introduction of "Melaleuca quinquenervia" into Florida. As with all "Melaleuca" species, "M. quinquenervia" seeds prolifically. In the absence of natural predators, it spread throughout southern Florida; at one time it was estimated that it had colonised 12% of southern