The Blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) is a marine mammal and a baleen whale. It is the largest animal known to have ever existed. The Blue whale was once abundant in nearly all the Earth's oceans until the end of the 19th century. It was hunted...
The koala or, inaccurately, koala bear (Phascolarctos cinereus) is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia. It is the only extant representative of the family Phascolarctidae and its closest living relatives are the wombats. Because of...
The quokka (Setonix brachyurus), is a small macropod about the size of a domestic cat. In 1696, Dutch explorer Willem de Vlamingh mistook these animals for giant rats, and renamed the Wadjemup island 't Eylandt 't Rottenest, which means "the rat...
The Tasmanian devil is a carnivorous marsupial of the family Dasyuridae. The size of a small dog, the Tasmanian devil became the largest carnivorous marsupial in the world, following the extinction of the thylacine in 1936. It is related to quolls,...
The Sperm whale or cachalot (Physeter macrocephalus) is the largest of the toothed whales and the largest toothed predator. It is the only living member of the genus Physeter and one of three extant species in the sperm whale family, along with the...
The dugong (Dugong dugon) is one of four living species of the order Sirenia, which also includes three species of manatees. It is the only living representative of the once-diverse family Dugongidae; its closest modern relative, Steller's sea cow...
The leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea ), sometimes called the lute turtle or leathery turtle or simply the luth, is the largest of all living turtles and the heaviest non-crocodilian reptile, reaching lengths of up to 1.8 metres and...
The Green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) is a species of large sea turtle of the family Cheloniidae. The common name of this species refers to the usually green fat found beneath its carapace, not to the color of its carapace, which is olive to black....
The loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta ), is a species of oceanic turtle distributed throughout the world. It is a marine reptile, belonging to the family Cheloniidae. The average loggerhead measures around 90 cm (35 in) in carapace length when...
Described as "The bird which made the breeze to blow" the wingspan of a Wandering albatross (Diomedea exulans) is the longest of any bird. It lives up to its name when it takes fishing trips that last 10-20 days and can cover 10,000 km while using...
The Fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus) is a cetacean belonging to the parvorder of baleen whales. It is the second-longest species of cetacean on Earth after the Blue whale. American naturalist Roy Chapman Andrews called the fin whale "the greyhound...
The Hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) is a critically endangered sea turtle belonging to the family Cheloniidae. It is the only extant species in the genus Eretmochelys. The Hawksbill sea turtle has a global distribution; it lives part...
The olive ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea ), also known commonly as the Pacific ridley sea turtle, is a species of turtle in the family Cheloniidae. The species is the second-smallest and most abundant of all sea turtles found in the world....
The numbat (Myrmecobius fasciatus) is an insectivorous marsupial that was once widespread across southern Australia, but is now restricted to several small colonies in Western Australia. It is therefore considered an endangered species and protected...
The giant clams are the members of the clam genus Tridacna that are the largest living bivalve mollusks. There are actually several species of "giant clams" in the genus Tridacna, which are often misidentified for Tridacna gigas, the most commonly...
The Sarus crane (Antigone antigone) is the world's tallest extant flying bird, standing at a height of up to 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in). This crane, when standing, is as tall as a man. In India, these birds are considered symbols of marital fidelity,...
Gilbert's potoroo (Potorous gilbertii; formerly Hypsiprymnus gilbertii) is Australia's most endangered marsupial. It is the rarest marsupial in the world and one of the world's rarest critically endangered mammals. Gilbert’s potoroo was thought to...
The Sei whale (Balaenoptera borealis) is a baleen whale, the third-largest rorqual after the Blue whale and the Fin whale. It inhabits most oceans and adjoining seas and prefers deep offshore waters. The whale's name comes from the Norwegian word...
Grey-headed flying foxes (Pteropus poliocephalus) are large bats with dark brown eyes, black wings, dark grey head and body as well as a broad, reddish-brown collar. One of the most conspicuous features of this species is their fur, covering all...
The chambered nautilus (Nautilus pompilius ), also called the pearly nautilus, is the best-known species of nautilus. The shell, when cut away, reveals a lining of lustrous nacre and displays a nearly perfect equiangular spiral, although it is not a...
The Southern royal albatross (Diomedea epomophora) is a large seabird from the albatross family. At an average wingspan of above 3 m (9.8 ft), it is one of the two largest species of albatross, together with the Wandering albatross.
The Eastern barred bandicoot (Perameles gunnii) is a nocturnal, rabbit-sized marsupial endemic to southeastern Australia. Once the Eastern barred bandicoot was widespread and abundant throughout Victoria’s volcanic plains and grasslands but now it...
The Northern hairy-nosed wombat (Lasiorhinus krefftii) is one of three extant species of Australian marsupials known as wombats. It is one of the rarest land mammals in the world and is critically endangered. Its historical range extended across New...
The pig-nosed turtle (Carettochelys insculpta ), also known as the pitted-shelled turtle or Fly River turtle, is a species of turtle native to northern Australia and southern New Guinea. It is the only living member of the family Carettochelyidae,...
The eastern quoll (Dasyurus viverrinus ), found only in Australia, and formerly known as the eastern native cat, is a medium-sized carnivorous dasyurid marsupial. They are widespread and even locally common in Tasmania. They have been considered...
The Australian sea lion (Neophoca cinerea ), also known as the Australian sea-lion or Australian sealion, is a species of sea lion that is the only endemic pinniped in Australia. It is currently monotypic in the genus Neophoca, with the extinct...
The New Zealand sea lion (Phocarctos hookeri ), once known as Hooker's sea lion, and as pakake or whakahao (male) and kaki (female) in Māori, is a species of sea lion that is endemic to New Zealand and primarily breeds on New Zealand's subantarctic...
The night parrot (Pezoporus occidentalis ) is a small parrot endemic to the continent of Australia. It has also been known as porcupine parrot, nocturnal ground parakeet, midnight cockatoo, solitaire, spinifex parrot and night parakeet. It is one of...
The western long-beaked echidna (Zaglossus bruijnii ) is one of the four extant echidnas and one of three species of Zaglossus that occur in New Guinea. Originally described as Tachyglossus bruijnii, this is the type species of Zaglossus.
The greater bilby (Macrotis lagotis ), often referred to simply as the bilby since the lesser bilby (Macrotis leucura ) became extinct in the 1950s, is an Australian species of nocturnal omnivorous animal in the order Peramelemorphia. Other...
Leadbeater's possum (Gymnobelideus leadbeateri ) is a critically endangered possum largely restricted to small pockets of alpine ash, mountain ash, and snow gum forests in the Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia, north-east of Melbourne. It is...
The malleefowl (Leipoa ocellata ) is a stocky ground-dwelling Australian bird about the size of a domestic chicken (to which it is distantly related). It is notable for the large nesting mounds constructed by the males and lack of parental care...
The mountain pygmy possum (Burramys parvus ); also simply known as the Burramys, is a small, mouse-sized (weighs 45 grams (1.6 oz)) nocturnal marsupial of Australia found in dense alpine rock screes and boulder fields, mainly southern Victoria and...
The orange-bellied parrot (Neophema chrysogaster ) is a small parrot endemic to southern Australia, and one of only three species of parrot that migrate. It was described by John Latham in 1790. A small parrot around 20 cm (8 in) long, it exhibits...
The swift parrot (Lathamus discolor ) is a species of broad-tailed parrot, found only in southeastern Australia. The species breeds in Tasmania during the summer and migrates north to south eastern mainland Australia from Griffith-Warialda in New...
The green and golden bell frog (Ranoidea aurea ), also named the green bell frog, green and golden swamp frog and green frog, is a ground-dwelling tree frog native to eastern Australia. Despite its classification and climbing abilities, it does not...
The Mary River turtle (Elusor macrurus ) is an endangered short-necked turtle that is endemic to the Mary River in south-east Queensland, Australia. While the Mary River Turtle was first formerly discovered in 1994, they eluded discovery in their...
The grey-headed albatross (Thalassarche chrysostoma ) also known as the grey-headed mollymawk, is a large seabird from the albatross family. It has a circumpolar distribution, nesting on isolated islands in the Southern Ocean and feeding at high...
The northern quoll (Dasyurus hallucatus ), also known as the northern native cat, the North Australian native cat or the satanellus is a carnivorous marsupial native to Australia.
The woylie or brush-tailed bettong (Bettongia penicillata ) is an extremely rare, small marsupial, belonging to the genus Bettongia, that is endemic to Australia. There are two subspecies: B. p. ogilbyi, and the now extinct B. p. penicillata.
The greater gliders are three species of large gliding marsupials in the genus Petauroides, all of which are found in eastern Australia. Until 2020 they were considered to be one species, Petauroides volans. In 2020 morphological and genetic...
The Snares penguin (Eudyptes robustus ), also known as the Snares crested penguin and the Snares Islands penguin, is a penguin from New Zealand. The species breeds on the Snares Islands, a group of islands off the southern coast of the South Island....
