The Tanami Desert is a desert

Desert

A desert is a landscape or region that receives an extremely low amount of precipitation, less than enough to support growth of most plants. Most deserts have an average annual precipitation of less than...

 in northern Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 situated in the Northern Territory

Northern Territory

The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...

. It has a rocky terrain with small hills. The Tanami was the Northern Territory

Northern Territory

The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...

's final frontier and was not fully explored until well into the twentieth century. It is traversed by the Tanami Track

Tanami Track

The Tanami Road, also known as the Tanami Track and the McGuire Track, is a road in northern Australia. It follows a cattle droving route northwest from the MacDonnell Ranges area of central Australia just north of Alice Springs to Halls Creek in the Kimberley.The Tanami Road is the most direct...

.

Under the name Tanami, it is one of the Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia

Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia

The Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia is a biogeographic regionalisation of Australia developed by the Australian Government's Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts...

 (IBRA) regions.

Biological resources

According to government commissions, the Tanami desert is uniquely "one of the most important biological areas to be found in Australia particularly as it provides refuge for several of Australia's rare and endangered species."

The species that are found include:

• Western Chestnut Mouse
  Western Chestnut Mouse
  The Western Chestnut Mouse is a species of rodent in the family Muridae.It is found only in Australia.-References:* Baillie, J. 1996. . Downloaded on 19 July 2007....
  
   (Pseudomys nanus)
• Little Native Mouse
  Little Native Mouse
  The Little Native Mouse also known as the Delicate Mouse is a species of rodent in the family Muridae.It is found in Western Australia, the Northern Territory, Queensland, New South Wales and Papua New Guinea....
  
   (Pseudomys delicatulus)
• Long-tailed Planigale
  Long-tailed Planigale
  The Long-tailed Planigale , also known as Ingram's Planigale or the Northern Planigale, is the smallest of all marsupials, and one of the smallest of all mammals...
  
   (Planigale ingrami)

Significant bird species include:

• Grey Falcon
  Grey Falcon
  The Grey Falcon, Falco hypoleucos, is a rare medium-sized falcon, one of the enigmatic ‘mystery’ birds of Australia, neither easily nor predictably seen.-Description:...
  
   (Falco hypoleucos)
• Australian Painted Snipe
  Australian Painted Snipe
  The Australian Painted Snipe is a medium-sized, long-billed, distinctively patterned wader.-Taxonomy:The distinctiveness of the Australian Painted-snipe was recognised by John Gould in 1838 when he described and named it Rostratula australis. However, it was subsequently lumped with the Greater...
  
   (Rostratula australis)
• Freckled duck
  Freckled Duck
  The Freckled Duck is a moderately large, broad-bodied duck native to southern Australia. The duck is protected by law...
  
   (Stictonetta naevosa)

Local indigenous groups

The Tanami Desert is Kukatja and Walpiri country. The Tjurabalan

Tjurabalan

Tjurabalan - - is a nomadic desert tribe from the edge of the Tanami desert near Sturt Creek and Lake Gregory in Western Australia.The combined population in 2003 was approximately 1200 people...

live at the edge of the desert.

External links

• http://www.nt.gov.au/nreta/environment/conservation/pdf/43_swtanami.pdf
• http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/publications/series/paper4/tan.html Australian government paper on environmental conditions.