- Duck-billed platypuses are small, semi-aquatic egg-laying mammals found in eastern Australia, with a unique combination of features including a bill, webbed feet, fur, and venomous ankle spurs. They spend most of their time alone, sleeping or feeding underwater at night on invertebrates and worms. - Tasmanian devils are the largest carnivorous marsupials in the world, found only in Tasmania. They have coarse fur, powerful jaws, and a feisty personality, known to lunge and spin like the cartoon character Taz when threatened. A contagious facial tumor disease is threatening their population. - Kangaroos are large

1. •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).

2. 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
After a baby has been in the pouch for about six
pouch for seven months
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.

3. Tasmanian devils Like all
are nocturnal marsupials, Tasmani
animals, spending an devil mothers
their days alone in give birth to very
hollow tiny young (about
logs, caves, or the size of a raisin).
burrows, and Once born, the
emerging at night babies crawl up the
to feed. They use mother's fur and
their excellent into her
sense of smell and pouch, where they
sight to avoid attach themselves to
predators and a nipple and feed
locate prey and until they are ready
carrion. They are to emerge, usually
voracious eaters after about four
and will consume months.
everything—
including
hair, organs, and
bones.

4. FAST FACTS
The 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.

5. 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 These water-loving mammals have fully
painful. 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.

6. 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.

7. People 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.

8. FAST FACTS
The 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 Tasmanian devils' bodies are usually
there was a land connection with Australia. between 20 and 31 inches (51 and 79
centimeters) long.
Tasmanian devils are actually quite
timid, preferring escape to confrontation. Tasmanian devils are notoriously fierce, and
they will often attack prey many times their
One of the Tasmanian devil's favorite foods is own size.
the wombat.
Young Tasmanian devils are excellent
climbers. As they get older and heavier, they

9. •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.

10. • Kangaroos give birth to joeys who are the size
of a grape at birth.
• Joeys live in their mothers pouch

11. 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.
Diet: Emus are primarily herbivores (plant-
eaters). They eat grass, seeds, flowers, young
plants, and fruit. They also eat some
• Anatomy Emus grow to be about 6 insects(including caterpillars). They swallow
feet (185 cm) tall and weigh about small stones (called gastroliths or gizzard
110 pounds (50 kg). This is bigger stones) which stay in the gizzard and help grind
than many adult humans. up food.

12. Koalas have
thick, grayish
fur, with white
on their
chests, inner
arms, and ears.
They have large
furry ears and
leathery noses. There are many
kinds of
Koalas live in eucalyptus trees.
trees, sometime Koalas will eat
s coming down from only a few
to the ground to of these.
seek shade or
another tree. Koalas in
They different areas
occasionally like different
jump from one kinds of
tree to the next. eucalyptus
leaves.

13. •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.
•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.

14. 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.
The word koala may
come from an
Aboriginal word
meaning no drink.
Although koalas do Mature males have brown scent glands in the
drink when center of their white chests. They rub these on
necessary, they their home trees to mark their territory.
obtain most of the
moisture they need Koalas and most other marsupials live in
from leaves. Australia and neighboring islands. The only
marsupial native to North America is the
Virginia opossum.

15. • 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.

16. Most devils have a white stripe or patch on
their chest and spots on their sides or rear The most famous characteristic of the
end. Males are usually a bit bigger than Tasmanian devil, though, is its feisty
females. Tasmanian devils are strictly personality. When threatened, a devil
carnivorous, surviving on small prey and will lunge at its
frequently feasting on already dead attacker, shriek, howl, bare its
animals, called carrion. When they are well teeth, and often spin around in circles
fed, they store fat in their tails. 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.

17. •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.

18. Fun Facts
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!
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.
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.

19. • 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.

20. 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
Adult Tasmanian devils are usually is the only place where they are found in the
about the size of a small dog. They wild.
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.

21. Kangaroos 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.