Platypus

•Duck-billed platypuses can't be real, can they? This small, amphibious mammal has a tail like a beaver, a body like an otter, walks like a reptile, has webbed feet and a beak like a bird, and it lays eggs!

•Platypuses are so strange looking, the first biologist to study them, in 1799, thought someone was playing a joke on him. There are thousands of them living in the swamps, lakes, and rivers of eastern Australia and parts of Tasmania.

•Duck-billed platypuses are small, shy animals. They have a flattened head and body to help them glide through the water. Their fur, dark brown on top and tan on their bellies, is thick and repels water to keep them warm and dry even after hours of swimming. They grow to about 18 inches (47 centimeters) in length and weigh around 3 pounds (1.5 kilograms).

Koala

Koalas are Marsupials, like kangaroos. This means that they keep their newborns in a pouch. Also like a kangaroo, baby koalas are called joeys. A koala mom gives birth to a newborn Joey that is the size of a jelly bean!The baby cannot see as soon as it is born but it can smell and touch. The baby develops in the moms pouch for seven months

After a baby has been in the pouch for about six months, its mother begins to produce a special substance called pap.The joey feeds on this in addition to the milk it's already getting. Pap comes from the mother's intestines and contains bacteria that the joey needs to have in its own intestines so that it can digest an adult diet of eucalyptus leaves. At about seven months, the joey leaves the pouch to eat leaves, but returns to it to nurse. By the time the joey is about one year old, it stops nursing and eats just leaves.

Tasmanian Devil

Tasmanian devils are nocturnal animals, spending their days alone in hollow logs, caves, or burrows, and emerging at night to feed. They use their excellent sense of smell and sight to avoid predators and locate prey and carrion. They are voracious eaters and will consume everything—including hair, organs, and bones.

Like all marsupials, Tasmanian devil mothers give birth to very tiny young (about the size of a raisin). Once born, the babies crawl up the mother's fur and into her pouch, where they attach themselves to a nipple and feed until they are ready to emerge, usually after about four months.

Koala

FAST FACTSThe scientific name for the koala is Phascolarctos cinereus.

Koalas are marsupials; newborn koalas—called joeys—continue to develop in their mothers' pouches.

Koalas have thick woolly fur that protects them from both heat and cold. It also acts like a raincoat.

Platypus

These water-loving mammals have fully webbed front feet to power themselves through the water. They use their back feet and tails to brake and steer. Their most remarkable feature is their amazing snout. It looks like a duck's bill, but is actually quite soft and covered with thousands of receptors that help the platypus detect prey.

If you thought these marvelous mammals couldn't get any more bizarre, they have another trick in store: Male platypuses are venomous! They have a pointy spur on their hind ankles that connects to a venom sac in each leg.

They mainly use these weapons in mating battles with other males, but they will attack with them if threatened. The poison is not strong enough to kill a human, but people who have been stung say the wound is extremely painful.

Thousands of years ago, devils lived throughout mainland Australia. Scientists think they became extinct there after Asian dogs, called dingoes, were brought to the continent. In 1941, the government made devils a protected species. Since then, their numbers have grown greatly, and they've become a beloved symbol of the island.

Tragically, since the mid-1990s, a catastrophic disease has killed thousands of Tasmanian devils. Called devil facial tumor disease (DFTD), this fatal condition is a rare contagious cancer that causes lumps to form around the animal's mouth and head, making it hard for it to eat. Scientists are working hard to find a way to stop the spread of DFTD before it wipes the species out.

Tasmanian Devil

KoalaPeople used to hunt koalas for their fur. Now strict laws protect them from hunters, but their habitat is not protected, and it is disappearing as land is developed.

More than four-fifths of original koala habitat has been destroyed. People are trying to save what is left.

A female koala is pregnant for only 35 days before giving birth; most of the joey's growth and development takes place in the mother's pouch.

Koalas spend as many as 18 hours a day napping and resting.

Koalas smell like cough drops because of their diet of eucalyptus leaves.

FAST FACTSThe scientific name for the Tasmanian devil is Sarcophilus harrisii, which means Harris' meat lover.

When threatened or excited, the ears of a Tasmanian devil turn bright red.

An angry Tasmanian devil will often point its tail straight up in the air.

Devils came to Tasmania tens of thousands of years ago when ocean levels were lower and there was a land connection with Australia.

Tasmanian devils are actually quite timid, preferring escape to confrontation.

One of the Tasmanian devil's favorite foods is the wombat.

Tasmanian devils' bodies are usually between 20 and 31 inches (51 and 79 centimeters) long.

Tasmanian devils are notoriously fierce, and they will often attack prey many times their own size.

Young Tasmanian devils are excellent climbers. As they get older and heavier, they Tasmanian Devil

Platypus

•Platypuses spend most of their time alone, sleeping or eating. They feed in the water at night, frantically swimming around with their eyes and ears closed, using their bill to search for their favorite foods: insect larvae, shellfish, and worms. Their mouth has no teeth. Instead, a pad of rough skin near their throat grinds up food before swallowing. •During the day,

platypuses sleep in burrows made with their long front claws. Each animal will maintain several burrows, usually dug in areas where there are overhanging branches and exposed roots to disguise the entrance. Platypuses are eaten by a wide array of Australian predators, including dingoes, foxes, large snakes, and even eels.

Kangaroo

• Kangaroos give birth to joeys who are the size of a grape at birth.

• Joeys live in their mothers pouch

Emu

The Emu is a large, flightless bird from Australia. It is the second-biggest bird in Australia and the third-biggest bird in the world (only the ostrich and cassowary are bigger). The emu is also very fast; it can run up to 30 mph (50 kph). Emus also swim very well. This huge bird lives in flocks (groups) in grasslands, savannas(grasslands with some trees), and the Australian bush. The emu's life span is 10-20 years.

• Anatomy Emus grow to be about 6 feet (185 cm) tall and weigh about 110 pounds (50 kg). This is bigger than many adult humans.

Diet: Emus are primarily herbivores (plant-eaters). They eat grass, seeds, flowers, young plants, and fruit. They also eat some insects(including caterpillars). They swallow small stones (called gastroliths or gizzard stones) which stay in the gizzard and help grind up food.

Koala

There are many kinds of eucalyptus trees. Koalas will eat from only a few of these.

Koalas in different areas like different kinds of eucalyptus leaves.

Koalas have thick, grayish fur, with white on their chests, inner arms, and ears. They have large furry ears and leathery noses.

Koalas live in trees, sometimes coming down to the ground to seek shade or another tree. They occasionally jump from one tree to the next.

•A mother platypus will dig a very deep tunnel, called a nursery burrow, when she's ready to lay her eggs. These burrows sometimes extend 100 feet (30 meters) from the water. They have a leaf-lined den where the mother curls up to incubate her eggs.

Platypus•She blocks the entrance with several dirt mounds to keep water and predators from entering and will nurse her hatchlings there for up to four months. Platypuses are long-lived, surviving 20 years or more in captivity and up to 12 years in the wild.

There are many kinds of eucalyptus trees. Koalas will eat from only a few of these.

Koalas in different areas like different kinds of eucalyptus leaves.

Koala

Mature males have brown scent glands in the center of their white chests. They rub these on their home trees to mark their territory.

Koalas and most other marsupials live in Australia and neighboring islands. The only marsupial native to North America is the Virginia opossum.

The word koala may come from an Aboriginal word meaning no drink.

Although koalas do drink when necessary, they obtain most of the moisture they need from leaves.

Kangaroo• Kangaroos live in Eastern Australia. They live in small groups called troops or herds

(“mobs” by Australians), typically made up of 50 or more animals.• If threatened, kangaroos pound the ground with their strong feet in warning.

Fighting kangaroos kick opponents, and sometimes bite.

Tasmanian Devil

Most devils have a white stripe or patch on their chest and spots on their sides or rear end. Males are usually a bit bigger than females. Tasmanian devils are strictly carnivorous, surviving on small prey and frequently feasting on already dead animals, called carrion. When they are well fed, they store fat in their tails.

The most famous characteristic of the Tasmanian devil, though, is its feisty personality. When threatened, a devil will lunge at its attacker, shriek, howl, bare its teeth, and often spin around in circles like the cartoon Taz. Devils will also display these behaviors when trying to join in as other devils are eating an animal carcass or fighting for a mate.

•Scientists think these fascinating creatures are the earliest relatives of modern mammals. Recent studies show that they first evolved more than 112 million years ago, well before the extinction of the dinosaurs. Humans once trapped platypuses for their skins, but a law passed in 1912 ended such harvesting, and platypus populations are generally healthy.

Platypus

In an ideal habitat in the wild, male koalas live about 10 years, while females may live a few years longer.

Thousands of koalas are killed each year by cars and dogs.

Though koalas look like teddy bears and are sometimes even referred to as koala bears, they are not bears.

Koala

Koalas are found in the wild only in the forests of eastern Australia.

Koalas live in bushland with other koalas. Each has its own home trees which are generally not visited by other koalas except in mating season.

Koalas have their own built-in cushion! The fur on a koala's bottom is extra thick so that the koala can comfortably rest in trees.

Fossils of 12 different extinct species of koala have been found. These extinct koalas were much larger than the ones today. They were like giant koalas!

Fun Facts

Emu• Reproduction: The emu's nest is a shallow hole by a bush; it is lined with leaves,

grass, and bark. The female lays from 4 to 20 greenish-brown eggs in a clutch (a group of eggs laid at one time). Chicks (baby emus) hatch after an incubation period of about 8 weeks. The male incubates (keeps warm) the eggs and cares for the chicks for about 1 1/2 years.

Tasmanian Devil

If you watch cartoons, the first thing you think of when you hear the name Tasmanian devil is probably Taz, the whirling, maniacal, always hungry, angry cartoon character. But Tasmanian devils are real and are feisty like the cartoon Taz!

Tasmanian devils are the largest carnivorous (meat-eating) marsupials in the world. Marsupials are mammals that have a pouch on their bellies for carrying their babies. Tasmanian devils live in Tasmania, a large island just south of Australia. In fact, Tasmania is the only place where they are found in the wild.

Adult Tasmanian devils are usually about the size of a small dog. They have coarse brown or black fur and a pudgy appearance that makes them look like baby bears. But don't let their cuteness fool you. They have sharp teeth and strong, muscular jaws that can deliver one of the most powerful bites of any mammal on Earth.

KangarooKangaroos possess powerful hind legs, a long, strong tail, and small front legs. They’re

the biggest of all marsupials, standing over 6 feet (2 meters) tall.

Kangaroos belong to the animal family Macropus, literally "big foot." Thanks to their large feet, kangaroos can leap some 30 feet in a single bound, and travel more than 30 mph (48 kmh). Kangaroos use their strong tails for balance while jumping.