The helminth and arthropod parasite communities occurring in macropodid, vombatid and notoryctid marsupials as well as in rodents in the arid zone of Australia are compared with those found in related host species in adjacent semi-arid and humid zones and are also related, where possible, to the changes in the mammalian fauna of central Australia over a geological time scale. Across the marsupials and rodents for which parasitological data are available, there is an obvious contrast in the helminth communities between inhabitants of high rainfall areas and those inhabiting semi-arid and arid zones in terms of parasite genera present in the marsupials. The differences between the inhabitants of semi-arid and arid environment communities are less overt and are observable only the parasite species level in the case of the kangaroos and wallabies. In the case of the rodents, there appears to be a significant lack of diversity in helminth faunas associated with the transition to an arid environment. Differences in the arthropod parasite communities between climatic regions are more marked than is the case with the helminths. The general lack of life cycle studies of these parasites provides an impediment to identifying the means by which they have adapted to the increasing aridity in central Australia over geological time, but appears to offer opportunities for future study.

比较了澳大利亚干旱地区大型足类，袋虫类和Notoryctid有袋动物中的蠕虫和节肢动物寄生虫群落，以及与之相邻的半干旱和潮湿地区相关寄主物种中发现的寄生虫和节肢动物寄生虫群落，并在可能的情况下进行了相关研究，地质时间尺度上澳大利亚中部哺乳动物的变化。在有寄生虫学数据的有袋动物和啮齿动物中，就有袋动物的寄生虫属而言，高降雨区居民与半干旱和干旱区居民的蠕虫群落之间存在明显的差异。在袋鼠和袋鼠的情况下，半干旱和干旱环境群落的居民之间的差异不太明显，只有寄生虫物种水平可以观察到。就啮齿类动物而言，与过渡到干旱环境有关的蠕虫动物似乎缺乏多样性。气候区域之间节肢动物寄生虫群落的差异比蠕虫更为明显。这些寄生虫的生命周期研究普遍缺乏，这阻碍了他们确定其在地质时期适应澳大利亚中部干旱不断增加的手段的方法，但似乎为将来的研究提供了机会。