Happy release day, Fauna! You are one of my deepest loves, and I hope children all over Australia fall into your pages and marvel at the truly breathtaking and unique and incredible and totally COOL animals we hold dear in this nation.
To celebrate, herewith just some of the animals featured in the book... and stay tuned for my Fauna window, installing at the National Library of Australia Bookshop Tuesday 5 November. The book is already in reprint and you can snaffle a copy online here.
#fauna
THE PLATYPUS Over millions of years of evolution, the stomach of the platypus disappeared! Of all verterbrate animals (those with a backbone), only fish and monotremes have no stomach.
THE KANGAROO Eastern grey roos can ‘freeze’ the development of embryos (which is called ‘embryonic diapause’) and can have three babies on the go at once.
THE KOALA The male koala has chest glands that he rubs against trees to mark his territory. He may also wee on tree trunks!
THE ECHIDNA Its snout can’t open wider than 5 millimetres but the tongue can protrude up to 18 centimetres, rapidly firing up to 100 times a minute. The tongue is stiffened by a rapid flow of blood,
allowing it to penetrate soil and even wood!
THE LEAFY SEADRAGON The seadragon is unusual in that the male incubates and ‘gives birth’ to young. The male’s tail turns bright yellow when it’s ready to mate, and males will fight each other to get their girl.
THE TASMANIAN TIGER With the strongest bite (for its size) of any land animal on Earth, the devil can bite through metal traps. Its jaw can open up to 80 degrees, and it is capable of eating every part of an animal, including bones and fur.
THE FRILL-NECKED LIZARD Females lay eggs in an underground nest, and temperature determines the gender of the babies—above 35ºC, all will be female.
THE KOOKABURRA Kookas have strong family ties. Both parents and their ‘helpers’ (usually older kids) incubate eggs and feed the chicks.
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