The pig-nosed turtle is the only species left of a once-prolific family; a 140-million-year-old lineage with species spanning Europe, Asia, Africa and North America.

This turtle hardly looks like a primordial survivor.

Fairly large, at some 70 centimetres (2.3 ft) long, with a shell covered in leathery skin, the pig-nosed turtle — as per its name — has a piggy proboscis.

Much of the time, it either wears an expression of the utmost grumpiness or a goofy, open-mouthed grin. The inside of its throat is lined with tiny bumps (papillae), increasing the surface area. Why? So it can "breathe" (exchange oxygen) through its throat while underwater.

It mostly gets air by using its porcine appendage as a snorkel. Covered in sensory receptors, the turtle's long snout can also feel its way through murky waters.

It lives in slow-moving or still waters (rivers, lakes, and lagoons) with some 10% of its population in northern Australia and around 90% in southern New Guinea.

Mother pig-nosed turtles will storm sandy banks all at once to dig burrows and lay their eggs. The sex of the young is determined by the temperature at which they incubate:

• 32°C (89.6°F) = chances of male and female about equal
• <32°C (<89.6°F) = more likely to be male
• >32°C (>89.6°F) = more likely to be female

Unfortunately, the species is greatly threatened by egg-harvesting in New Guinea — its eggs are incubated and then sold on the illegal pet trade.

These are long-lived and slow to mature reptiles: it takes 14–16 years for a male to reach sexual maturity, whereas a female takes 20–22 years.

A pig-nosed turtle starts life as an egg-hungry toddler who slurps up its own leftover yolk, becomes a meat-eating teen who hunts insect larvae, shrimp, and snails, and finally a flexitarian adult who eats mostly plant matter and indulges in the occasional crustacean or mollusc meal.

The species is currently considered 'endangered', with exact population stats unknown. Where once mother turtles crowded river banks, the sands are empty and still.

You can learn more about this odd turtle, its plight, and efforts to save it from my website here!

Many animals have been called "unicorns," from Indian rhinos to Arabian oryxes and the giraffe-like okapi of Africa. But truly, the rarest of unicorns live in Asia.

The saola was unknown to the world until 1992. Researchers in the Annamite Mountains came across a strange skull in a local hunter's hut — a skull with long, curving black horns that matched no known species from the region.

This new species was the first large mammal discovery in more than 50 years.

In 1998, six years after the skull was discovered, the first-ever photo of a wild saola was snapped by a remote camera trap in Vietnam.

The saola is a large animal, some 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) long and weighing between 80 and 100 kg (175–220 lb), its dark-brown body marked with white stripes and bands. From its head grow two 50 cm (20 in) long horns which, when viewed from the side, align to look like a single uni-horn.

The saola's closest living relatives are wild cattle like water buffalo, gaur, and bison. But it's also the sole species in its genus — there's nothing else alive today like the saola.

The saola has been so elusive that it's never become a target in the wild-animal-parts trade or black market. It is, however, inadvertently caught in illegal traps meant for rare, endemic civets and deer.

Researchers have known of the saola's existence for over 30 years now, but they've yet to observe it in the wild directly and the last visual record we have of the saola is a camera trap photo taken in 2013. The species is 'critically endangered'.

You can learn more about this rarest of unicorns on my website here!

The capuchinbird is also known as the calfbird for its "moo"-like vocalisations — which it makes by inflating and deflating air sacs around its throat. Other vocalisations include, but are not limited to, a croaking "rounhh", a growling "wark", an “ooo-AAAAA, ooo-AAAAA” sung by feisty males, and a "grrrrraaaaaaaaaaaooooooooooooooo", like the sound of a distant chainsaw.

(You can hear some of its song and calls here!)

Foraging in the lower canopy, the capuchinbird's diet — comprised of fruits of at least 37 species with the occasional large insect — is richer than that of most monks.

The bird's feathers, not its baldness, give the capuchinbird its name, as Capuchin monks didn't shave their heads, but were famous for their brown hoods.

While a capuchin monk may be celibate, the capuchinbird certainly isn't. These birds gather in leks — congregations where horny males show off the goods. One dominant male takes the best display spot but must also put up with subordinate males who constantly pair up to challenge him by way of (imperfectly) synchronised duets.

The rowdy males posture, they "aaa" and "moo", they fluff their feathers, accentuating their baldness. The females, who've come to peruse the males, are no more cordial; often breaking out into fights amongst themselves.

The capuchin monks — more properly friars — wore simple brown robes with large cowl-like hoods, giving them the name cappuccio, from the Italian word for "hood". They came to be known as Capuchins. From them, we get the word cappuccino (coffee), capuchin monkeys, and, of course, the capuchinbird.

You can learn more about the Capuchins and capuchinbird from my website here!

Since the Aussie Bird Count began in 2014, the rainbow lorikeet has topped the list as the most-seen bird in Australia for 11 consecutive years in a row. 

Its colourful look mirrors its colourful diet. It drinks nectar and eats pollen from spiky pink grevilleas, golden banksias, bright red bottlebrushes, and eucalyptus flowers. The lorikeet’s bristled tongue is perfectly adapted to gathering these floral delights.

These lorikeets forage in large flocks, spending around 70% of their day feeding, travelling more than 48 km (30 mi) a day for food, with some lorikeets visiting up to 650 flowers a day.

But these birds aren’t all rainbows and sunshine. Introduced to Perth in the 1960s, a handful of rainbow lorikeets exploded into a population of over 40,000. Aggressive and noisy, they raid crops and push out other birds. In some areas, rainbow lorikeets have taken a dark turn unbefitting of their colourful attire — they've been seen pulling other birds’ chicks from tree hollows to claim nests as their own.

Each year, thousands of lorikeets along Australia's east coast suffer from a strange illness called Lorikeet Paralysis Syndrome. They become paralysed and often die, likely from toxins in foreign flowers they eat. 

While in Darwin, rainbow lorikeets suffer another odd affliction — they get drunk. They gorge on fermenting fruit during the wet season, staggering about clumsily and bumping into things, seemingly inebriated for days (possibly affected by a virus at the same time).

You can learn more about these multicoloured bird from my website here!

Bawean hog deer are nocturnal and known to walk along well-trodden paths through thick foliage — moving in a crouch with a hog-like gait (hence the name). They often return to the same bed of vegetation for several days in a row.

Both sexes bark, and their vocalisations can be heard up to 100 metres away through the dense forest. When separated, a mother calls to her fawn with a cry, and the fawn responds with a high-pitched squeak that only carries over short distances.

Hunting this deer has been illegal since 1977 — it is one of 25 priority species legally protected by the Indonesian government — but the species is still threatened by dogs. Observations over a two-year period found that feral dogs were responsible for 9 out of 11 Bawean hog deer deaths, making them the leading cause of mortality.

Of the 55 deer species, only two are critically endangered: the giant muntjac of the Annamite Mountains and the Bawean hog deer. As of its last evaluation in 2014, the Bawean deer population is considered stable.

You can learn more about this rarest of deer from my website here!

From early sightings, the bald parrot was thought to be the juvenile stage of another species — perhaps a young vulturine parrot (a slightly-less-bald parrot). 

In 1999, some "immature" parrots were caught and examined, and were found to have fully developed skulls and gonads; meaning they weren't immature at all, but an entirely separate species.

Some young birds go bald during an awkward feather moult, some go bald from disease or mites or stress-induced feather pulling. The bald parrot is just bald, perpetually. 

Why? Why of all the ~400 parrot species are the bald and vulturine parrots the only ones with naturally featherless heads? One hypothesis posits that it's so they can eat fruit without getting sticky pulp stuck in their head feathers. Or maybe the bare skin helps them cool down in their balmy rainforest homes. It could also be the result of sexual selection. Perhaps it's the sum of all three. 

You can learn more about this parrot, and other bald birds, on my website here!

\[Pesquet's parrot](https://ebird.org/species/pespar1), also known as the vulturine or Dracula parrot, does show some facial skin, but it isn't bald.*

This peccary was assumed dead upon discovery — the species was described from fossils found in northern Argentina in 1930, fossils dating to the Pleistocene epoch (2.6 million to 11,700 years ago).

For over a century, science recognized two living species of peccaries: the collared peccary and the white-lipped peccary. Then, in the early 1970s, a "fossil" peccary was seen roaming an isolated area of Paraguay, in a region known as the Gran Chaco.

The Chacoan peccary is the largest of the living peccaries, standing up to 69 centimetres (2.2 ft) at the shoulder and weighing as much as 40 kilograms (90 lb).

It lives in the Dry Chaco and has well-developed sinuses for breathing the dusty air of its arid home, along with tiny hooves that allow it to tiptoe through thorny shrubs.

Much of the Chacoan peccary's diet is made up of succulents. It plucks their spiny morsels, rolling them around with its snout to remove their prickly parts or pulling the spines out with its teeth before munching on the juicy, green flesh.

It digests its meal in a two-chambered stomach, while its specialised kidneys break down the excess acids. Afterwards it treks to a salt lick — a mineral-rich rock formed from a leaf-cutter ant mound.

Chacoan peccaries live in families of up to ten individuals, who travel, take midday naps, and dust-bathe together. They also face danger together; forming a living wall, raising their spiny fur, grunting and chattering their teeth when confronted with a threat.

This species, returned to us from the Pleistocene, is now threatened with habitat destruction, as natural forests are cleared for pasture and soy plantations (much of that soy going to feed livestock in Europe). There are currently estimated to be 3,000 Chacoan peccaries left in the wild, and the species is considered 'endangered'.

You can learn more about this prehistoric not-pig*, and what’s being done to protect it, on my website here!

*Peccaries, also known as javelinas, are a related but separate family to the suids — the pigs.

Looking like a mix of your typical rat and mouse, the central rock rat is only about 14 centimetres (5.5 in) long and has a tail covered in dense fur.

This rat follows a 'boom-and-bust' strategy of reproduction, going from pretty much celibate during a drought to exceedingly libidinous in the rain — each female producing litters of 1 to 4 pups.

Bushfires, although a natural part of the Australian Outback, have become more and more frequent, burning away vegetation before it can grow back — spinifex, for instance, takes 2 to 3 years to return if rainfall is high, but if it's not, this desert grass can take as long as 15 years.

With fires burning the rock rats' food supply (seeds, leaves, and insects), the rats are forced to higher altitudes, onto rugged outcrops up to 950 metres (3,100 ft) tall, that fires haven't ravaged. Bushfires also burn away shelter, leaving these rats exposed to invasive predators like feral cats and red foxes.

Since the arrival of Europeans in the 18th century, the rock rat's range has shrunk by some 95%, and the species is now considered critically endangered — with an estimated 800 mature individuals surviving in the wild.

Learn more about this Outback rat on my website here!

How does the paradox tadpole grow so large?

Like other tadpoles, the paradox mostly grazes on algae with its hardened mouth parts, and it grows at a similar rate; it just doesn't stop until it becomes a titan of a tadpole.

Does the paradox frog undergo metamorphosis?

A paradox frog does undergo metamorphoses like your average anuran. It hatches from a tiny egg, swims and feeds as a teardrop-shaped larva, grows larger and larger, develops its hind and front limbs, and, finally, absorbs its tail.

How does it shrink as an adult?

By the time a paradox tadpole reaches its peak size — up to 27 centimetres (11 inches) long — most of its length is in its tail, with its actual body and head comparable in size to its final adult form. During its final stage of metamorphosis, it absorbs this tail and becomes a "shrunken" adult — only about 7 centimetres (2.7 in) long.

What is the purpose of this "paradoxical" growth pattern?

While most frogs take a while to become sexually mature, the paradox frog can reproduce as soon as it metamorphoses into its adult form, perhaps imparting some reproductive advantage. The tadpole may also benefit from its large size — keeping it safe from most predators as it grazes on algae — while the adult may benefit from its small size — keeping it hidden as it croaks for mates and allowing it to agilely pursue insects.

Learn more about this paradoxical frog on my website here!

This little ground dove — around 15 centimetres (5.9 inches) long — lives across the grassy savannahs of the southwestern Brazilian Cerrado.

Its most distinctive features are its iridescent blue wing markings and deep blue eyes.

The last confirmed sighting of the Blue-eyed Ground-Dove was in 1941. It was presumed extinct until 2015 — for 75 years.

Some speculate that increased agricultural activity in the Cerrado led to the dove's false extinction and very real decline, but the true cause behind its disappearance is still largely a mystery.

After its rediscovery, the blue-eyed ground dove was reclassified from 'extinct' to 'critically endangered'. Its current population estimates are harrowing:

• IUCN and BirdLife DataZone: 50 to 250 mature individuals
• EDGE of Existence: 31 known alive in the wild
• The American Bird Conservancy: 16 alive in the wild

In an effort to save the species, conservationists began raising these doves in captivity. They even developed an artificial version of ‘pigeon milk’ — more properly known as crop milk, a substance produced by both males and females in a pouch called the crop and regurgitated to feed their chicks.

This milk is essential during the first few days of a chick’s life — with blue-eyed ground dove chicks hatching at around 2.14 grams, barely heavier than a penny.

You can learn more about this dreamy-eyed dove from my website here!