1. The Greater Bilby
By Sofia and Jake

2. Contents Slide 2- Contents Slide 3- Introduction Slide 4-5 Adaptations
Slide 6- Behavioural Adaptations
Slide 7- Behaviour
Slide 8-9 Habitat
Slide 10- Diet
Slide 11- Features
Slide 12- Predators & Threats
Slide What We Will Do In Our Experiment
Slide 15- Experiment Results
Slide 16- Experiment Reflection
Slide 17-Fun Facts
Slide18-19 Glossary
Slide Bibliography
Slide 22- Thanks For Watching

3. Introduction
The Greater Bilby has many adaptions including its large ears to help it regulate quicker
The Bilby now lives in a variety of habitats in arid desert regions of Western Australia, Northern Territory and Queensland.
They are about cm in length. Here is what it looks like
Large ears to help it regulate quicker

4. Adaptations
Structural Adaptations: Large Ears- Bilbies have large ears for a lot of different purposes. The first and most foremost reason of all is to allow them to regulate their body temperature and to cool down quicker. They have really big ears so they can hear predators when they’re really far away and they can cool off easier because of the large surface area from their ears (Their sweat goes down their body from their ears). Blood that flows into their ears does not allow them to become excessively hot or cold.
Another reason that Bilbies have large ears is because it allows them to have excellent hearing. That means that they can sense predators quicker.

5. Adaptions slide- 2
Another adaptation of a Bilby is that it gets most of its water from its food rather than from drinking. They very rarely need to drink. So this means that it can survive in areas without access to standing water.
Bilbies have powerful forelimbs and really strong claws for digging holes up to 3 meters deep. They have poor vison but their sense of smell and hearing are acute. The bilbies coat of fur is a greyish-blue to help them camouflage in with the sand. The bilbies also use its sharp claws to dig out roots for its food.
They have very long noses and a long and sticky tongue so it is easier to lick insects and bugs out of the ground. This feeding style means the greater bilby eats a lot of sand. In fact, 20-90% of its faecal waste can be sand! 

6. Behavioural Adaptations
A behavioural adaptation of a Bilby is that its nocturnal.
Weather conditions like a full moon, heavy rain or even strong wind could result in the Bilby staying in its burrow
Bilbies are very sensitive to light this ensures that they remain in their burrows and Bilbies staying in their burrows ensures their survival
They can also react quickly to light and go into the darkness to remain un seen by their predators

7. Behaviour
The bilby is semi-fossorial meaning that it digs burrows to live in.
The Bilby is very territorial and nocturnal.
They are so territorial that they build only one hole for 1  Bilby. 
They live a very nocturnal life only coming out to mate and get food.
The Bilby keeps to itself

8. Habitat
A Bilby’s survival depends on hot and dry climates where the temperatures reach 30 degrees up to 40 degrees.
Bilbies live in places that have very little rainfall. They live in areas that have rocky soil and a small amount of ground with shrub-land and wood-land. They are also known to live in grass lands. But in Australia they are mostly found in the Northern Territory desert.
Bilbies eat plants that need fire to germinate
The Greater Bilby once ranged over most of the mainland in Australia. However, the arrival of exotic predators has eliminated it from most of its former range. Their close relative, the lesser bilby, is extinct.
The Bilby selects grass areas, often with sparse shrubs or low bushes, so that it can move about easily, see or sense any lurking predators, and can always have a clear run back home.
The Bilby will dig a new burrow every couple of weeks

9. Habitat continued
Bilbies used to be found in over 70% of Australia's mainland
It is believed that now there are less than 10,000 Bilbies left in the wild an that number is actually decreasing
There are more Bilbies in places where there are fewer foxes
Where the bilby lives now
Where the Bilby used to live

10. Diet
The Bilby is an omnivores, they scratch around at night for: seeds, grubs, bulbs, fruit, insects, fungi and very small animals. When looking for food they usually dig deep holes and sniff with their long noses and lick up any insects, seeds etc. that they find. Also, it often eats the exoskeletons of insects, which shine in the light when their scat is broken open.
This feeding style means the greater bilby eats a lot of sand. In fact, 20-90% of its faecal waste can be sand! 
Bilbies get their food by searching in the sand with there long snouts
Like it is said in the previous slide, Bilbies don’t need to drink as they get most of their water from their food.

11. Features
The Greater Bilby has several distinctive features that it uses to help find its prey. It uses its big ears and sharp sense of smell to find food. It has a long and skinny tongue that it uses to lick up seeds from the ground. But this feeding style means that it eats a lot of sand! Like it is said in the previous slide, 20-90% of its faecal can be sand!
It has long and blue-grey silky black fur.
It also has a black tail with a whit tip.
A Bilby’s tail can be up to 50 cm long!
Ears and sharp sense of smell to find food.
Black tail with a white tip
Long and skinny tongue to lick up seeds

12. Predators and Threats
The Greater Bilby has a lot of predators such as: Dingo’s, Wedge- tailed eagles and others such as: feral cats and red foxes.
Like mentioned in another slide, Bilbies are able to sense predators quickly because of their large ears and they are able to quickly avoid them.
Bilby’s can avoid these predators by digging a hole to avoid them.

13. What We Will Do In Our Experiment
What are we trying to find out? Whether digging with sharp claws will help the Bilby dig their burrow
What is our question for the investigation: What happens to the amount of sand we dig when we change the tool that we are digging with
What do we predict will happen and why? We predict that the sharp “claws” will dig up more sand because they are sharp and Bilbies dig more sand because of their sharp claws.
To make the test fair, what things (variables) are you going to do:
Change?
Measure/Observe
Keep the same?
The tool we are digging with.
Weigh the amount of sand we dig up.
The same amount of sand
Once with no pegs and again with pegs
With pegs and without pegs
Same person digging

14. What we will do in our experiment- Continued
What equipment will we need?
Pegs x3
Scale x1
Jake x1
Finger protectors x3
Sand- enough to fill the bucket
Sofia x1
Timer x1
Bucket x1
Tub x1
What are we going to do?
Sofia will first dig with one hand in a bucket scooping out sand for 30 seconds. Jake will be timing.
The sand that she scoops out will be caught in tub. Jake will then way the tub and record how much it weighs. Then we will empty the sand in the tub and put it back in the bucket.
Then Sofia will repeat the process expect with pegs on her hands.
Jake will also repeat the process.

15. Experiment Results

16. Experiment Observations
Our Prediction: We predict that the sharp “claws” will dig up more sand because they are sharp and Bilbies dig more sand because of their sharp claws.
Our observations were that digging with claws did help the Bilby dig up more sand. Here are the results in a table:
Without Claws
2546 grams of sand
With Claws
3344 grams of sand

17. Fun Facts A Bilbies ears can also move in circles.
Each individual Bilby turns over around 20 tonnes of soil each year!
There used to be 2 types of Bilbies: The lesser Bilby (which is now believed to be extinct) the Greater Bilby
A Bilby lives for about 6 or 7 years
Bilbies are very shy creatures
The Male Bilby can grow up to 2.5kg
The females are smaller and grow up to 1.5g
The females pouches are in between her legs and facing backwards so that the dirt that she digs sand doesn’t go in the pouch.

18. Glossary
Regulate- to fix or adjust the time, amount, degree, or rate of
Adaptation- A change to a plant or animal that has happened over time and helps it survive in its environment
Foremost- ranking above all others
Excessively- to a degree exceeding normal or proper limits
Acute- extremely sharp or intense
Germinate- begin to grow and put out shoots after a period of dormancy
Distinctive- of a feature that helps to distinguish a person or thing
Ensures- to make certain of
Omnivores- an animal or person that eats a variety of food of both plant and animal origin.
Faecal- of or relating to feces.
Feces- solid excretory product evacuated from the bowels.

19. Glossary Continued
Decreasing- make or become smaller or fewer in size, amount, intensity, or degree.
Ensures- make certain that (something) will occur or be the case.
Arid- of land or a climate having little or no rain; too dry or barren to support vegetation.
Vegetation- plants considered collectively, especially those found in a particular area or habitat.
Semi-fossorial- digs burrows to live in.

20. Bibliography l
  0sheet.pdf
species/endangered/endangered-animals/bilby.html
d29YPRg

21. Bibliography Continued
  6ml/apperence/habitat

22. Thanks for watching
We hope you liked it and we also hope that you learnt something about a bilby.
Thanks for watching our presentation