what what animals did the Aboriginals make distinct

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples did not “make animals distinct” in a single universal way; different Nations classified animals differently based on appearance, habitat, behavior, and use. One clear example from the sources is that some groups distinguished birds, fish, land animals, marine animals, snakes, turtles, and crocodiles as separate categories.

Examples of distinctions

• Birds and fish were treated as different fauna groups in some Torres Strait Islander systems.

• Snakes were separated into venomous and non-venomous kinds in Mabuiag Island classifications.

• Crocodiles could be classified differently depending on how a Nation interpreted their habitat or movement.

• Turtles were divided by visible traits like head shape, back shape, or nose size.

What this means

The main idea is that First Nations classification systems were often very detailed and practical, not just broad labels like “animal” or “bird”. They reflected close ecological knowledge and long observation of Country.

If you want, I can turn this into a shorter one-paragraph answer or a cleaner school-style response.