Items42The creator’s order
- 1
PlatypusWatch the bill, which picks up faint electric fields generated by prey underwater. A platypus shuts its eyes, ears, and nostrils when it dives. The bill helps it find small animals in the mud without seeing them.0 - 2
Short-beaked EchidnaLook past the spines and you’ll find one of Australia’s egg-laying mammals. A female carries her egg in a temporary pouch, and the hatchling laps milk from patches on her skin.0 - 3
Spotted handfishThis speckled Tasmanian fish uses its modified fins to walk along the bottom. The fins look like little hands, and the fish tends to stay near the seafloor instead of spending its time in open water.0 - 4
Leafy seadragonThe leaflike flaps make this fish look like a drifting piece of seaweed. It swims with small, nearly transparent fins, so the leafy silhouette stays convincing even as it moves.0 - 5
Satin bowerbirdLook for a twig passage decorated with objects such as blue feathers, bottle caps, or straws. A male builds this bower to court females. The actual nest is built elsewhere.0 - 6
Southern cassowaryThe helmetlike casque and blue neck make this rainforest bird easy to recognize. Its appetite for fruit matters as much as its looks. It swallows many fruits whole and carries their seeds to new parts of the forest.0 - 7
Bare-Nosed WombatA bare-nosed wombat leaves cube-shaped droppings. Researchers found that differences in the elasticity of its intestinal walls help create the corners as the material dries and moves through the gut.0 - 8
Thorny devilLook closely at the spaces between this ant-eating lizard’s scales. Tiny channels draw water along the skin toward its mouth, which helps the thorny devil drink in a dry landscape.0 - 9
Superb lyrebirdA male sings from a small display mound, with a long tail arched over his head. The song can sound like several birds taking turns because he borrows the calls of other species.0 - 10
Red kangarooAt a slow pace, look at what the red kangaroo does with its tail. It sets the tail down as a fifth limb, using it to help propel the body forward as the hind legs swing through.0
