You’ve heard of koalas and kangaroos, but have you come across sea angels, lizards with horns and hopping mice?
Beyond Australia's more familiar species lies a world of extraordinary animals with baffling adaptations and unexpected behaviours – from the turtle that breathes through its bum to the tree-kangaroo that – you guessed it – jumps between trees.
Weirdest Australian animals
Numbat
This bizarre but adorable Australian marsupial looks like a cross between a squirrel, wombat and anteater. In fact, it’s often referred to as the 'banded anteater', due to its appearance and diet. Unlike many other Australian marsupials, the numbat is carnivorous, living on a diet made up almost exclusively of termites, which they forage for using their immensely long tongue. They eat between 15,000–20,000 termites every day.
Numbats were once widespread across southern Australia, but their population is now restricted to several small colonies in Western Australia, and they are considered an endangered species.
Thorny devil
The spike-covered, desert-living thorny devil is undeniably one of the weirdest reptiles in the world. It has a false head on the back of its neck to confuse predators, drinks water through its skin (drawing liquid towards its mouth along channels between its scales – moving against gravity!), and moves so slowly that it appears to be living in slow motion. Many consider the thorny devil to be one of the scariest-looking animals, due to the sharp, spiky protrusions that cover its body.
Southern cassowary
The southern cassowary looks like a prehistoric dinosaur, with a bright blue head, two red wattles (skin flaps), a casque (a helmet-like structure on its head) and long, black feathers. Reaching up to 2m tall, it is the third-tallest bird on Earth, following the ostrich and emu – to which it is related. It’s also one of the heaviest birds on Earth. They take their name from two Papuan words: 'kasu' (horned) and 'wari' (head). Unsurprisingly, we named the southern cassowary as one of the world’s weirdest birds.
Fitzroy River turtle
The Fitzroy River turtle is commonly referred to as the 'bum-breathing turtle'. This turtle is only found in tributaries of the Fitzroy River in Queensland, Australia, and obtains up to 70% of its oxygen from the water through its cloaca, via a process known as cloacal respiration. This ingenious survival method allows the Fitzroy River turtle to remain underwater for up to three weeks. It eats insects, crustaceans and sponges found at the bottom of the riverbed.
The species is listed as Vulnerable, due to the reductions in aquatic oxygen levels in its habitats, which inevitably have an impact on its survival.
Laughing kookaburra
The laughing kookaburra makes one of the weirdest bird noises on Earth – you guessed it, it laughs. Its laugh is actually a territorial call, which family groups use simultaneously to establish their territory and make themselves known. This sound is made using a complex sound production system, by forcing air from the kookaburra’s lungs into its bronchial tubes. Plus, kookaburras mate for life, so they always have someone around to laugh at their jokes.
They’ll teach their fledglings to sing by inviting them to mimic the call. These singing lessons will take place over the course of a couple of weeks while the young bird learns how to sing and take part in these calls.
Frilled-neck lizard
There are many weird lizards around the world, but the frilled-neck lizard is certainly one of Australia’s strangest. When it’s under threat, the frilled-neck lizard rises on its hind legs, opens its mouth and unfurls the enormous, colourful skin flap that runs around the circumference of its head – and hisses. It’s quite the sight.
Mistletoebird
The mistletoebird has a unique, specialised relationship with the parasitic mistletoe plant, which has resulted in strange and surprising anatomical and behavioural adaptations. They wipe their bums on branches to deposit sticky seeds, which then germinate on the tree’s branches. Plant and bird are mutually reliant on one another. Without the mistletoebird, the mistletoe plant would have difficulty germinating on high tree branches, and without the mistletoe berry, the mistletoebird wouldn’t have its primary food source.
To process the berries, the mistletoebird has a simplified digestive system, where the stomach and intestine are in a straight line. They lack a muscular gizzard, which most birds have for grinding food, which allows them to pass through the bird very quickly, to protect the seed and allow it to be deposited again for germination.
Hopping mouse
One of the weirdest mice on Earth, the hopping mouse is actually not one individual species – it’s a collection of several different species (specific numbers vary) of different Australian native mice with well-developed hind legs that allow them to move like small kangaroos. They primarily travel by hopping, which allows them to quickly escape danger. In fact, they are adapted to hop – so while they are able to move on all fours, they are far better at hopping than walking.
Hopping mice are found in the arid and semi-arid regions of Australia, typically in drier environments within Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia.
Platypus
The platypus is a strange creature – and not just visually strange. It’s a monotreme, a peculiar egg-laying mammal that exists somewhere between mammals and reptiles. There are only five living species of monotreme: four types of echidna (another strange Australian animal) and the platypus.
The platypus also has a duck-like bill, which holds more than 40,000 electroreceptors, allowing it to detect electricity in water. This means they can hunt in murky rivers and lakes.
Male platypuses produce venom, with spurs on their hind ankles, which they use to fight other males during mating season.
Did you know? Winston Churchill was so obsessed with the idea of seeing a platypus he had one delivered from Australia.
Sea angel
They might look angelic, but sea angels have a menacing side. These small, shell-less sea snails are found in cold and temperate waters the world over. They grow to little more than 2cm long and live between the water’s surface and depths of around 600m. They take their name from their tiny 'wings', which propel them through the water and give them the appearance of flying. But when they find their prey, they push out tentacles from their head to latch onto their prey and use hook-like appendages to pull the victim out of its shell and into its guts.
Tree-kangaroo
No, not a kangaroo. We know what those are. A tree-kangaroo is a little different. There are around 14 species of tree-kangaroos in the world, found primarily in the rainforests of Papua New Guinea and northeastern Queensland in Australia. Their appearance is somewhere between a kangaroo and a lemur. They have adapted to life in the trees, with stocky arms and a long tail helping them balance and jump between branches.
Dumbo octopus
Relatively little is known of the Dumbo octopus, with specimens rarely found intact by scientists. This group of deep-sea cephalopods includes about 17 known species, which live in dark, cold waters – making them difficult to research. They take their name from the adorable Disney character, thanks to their elephant ear-like fins. They flap these fins to propel them through the water.
They have soft, gelatinous bodies to cope with the intense pressure at extreme depths. Like other octopuses, they have blue blood that contains a copper-based protein known as hemocyanin (rather than the iron contained in red blood), which is more efficient at transporting oxygen in cold and low-oxygen environments. Plus, they can change their skin colour to create a brighter bottom and darker top, making them less visible in the open sea.
Blobfish
Sometimes referred to as the ugliest fish in the world, the blobfish spends its time on the ocean floor, at depths of 1,200m. It’s this deep-water living that has given it its unfortunate appearance. Its common name 'fathead sculpin” refers to its large, globular head and floppy skin. Relatively little is known about the species.
This weird fish lives in the deep, cold waters off the coast of southeastern Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand, in areas of high pressure and near-freezing temperatures.
Top image: Lumholtz's tree-kangaroo (Dendrolagus lumholtzi). Credit: Thurtell via Getty Images
