Phascolarctos cinereus

The koala is an iconic Australian marsupial that feeds almost exclusively on the leaves of eucalyptus trees — one of the most nutritionally poor and…

Tiliqua scincoides

The common bluetongue skink is Australia’s largest skink, recognizable by its vivid blue tongue used in dramatic bluff displays against predators. These lizards are ovoviviparous,…

Vombatus ursinus

The common wombat is a barrel-shaped, powerfully built marsupial that is one of Australia’s most tenacious diggers, excavating burrow systems that can extend 30 metres…

Macropus agilis

The agile wallaby is the most common wallaby in northern Australia and southern New Guinea, inhabiting open grasslands, river flats, and forest edges. Like kangaroos,…

Macropus rufus

The red kangaroo is the largest marsupial and the largest native land animal in Australia, perfectly adapted to the arid interior of the continent. Their…

Ornithorhynchus anatinus

The platypus is perhaps the most evolutionarily unusual mammal alive, combining features so bizarre that when the first specimen arrived in Britain in 1799, scientists…

Tachyglossus aculeatus

The short-beaked echidna is one of only five surviving monotremes — the ancient group of egg-laying mammals — making it one of the most evolutionarily…

Canis lupus dingo

The dingo is Australia’s wild dog and one of the continent’s most iconic predators. Having arrived in Australia roughly 4,000 years ago, likely brought by…

Dromaius novaehollandiae

The Emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae) is Australia’s largest native bird and the world’s second-largest living bird by height. A flightless giant of the outback, the Emu…