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It’s no hoax – it’s a platypus. David Attenborough, Life on Earth IX: The Rise of the Mammals, BBC 1979
The size of a Corgi dog – a Tasmanian Devil. ibid.
There are over a hundred and fifty different kinds of marsupial. ibid.
In the eucalyptus trees of Australia at night: this little marsupial is called a sugar glider, and with good reason. David Attenborough: Life on Earth: Mammals (revised series)
Kangaroos – the marsupial equivalent of deer and antelope. ibid.
As the landscape changed, so did the marsupial mammals. David Attenborough, The Life of Mammals I: A Winning Design, BBC 2002
The kangaroo can outpace a racehorse. ibid.
Marsupials were once distributed throughout the globe. David Attenborough’s Rise of the Animals: Triumph of the Vertebrates: Dawn of the Mammals, BBC 2013
Australia: an island continent cast adrift during the time of the dinosaurs. Isolated from the rest of life on land for millions of years, the animals cast away here are today like none elsewhere. This is a land of survivors. David Attenborough, Seven Worlds, One Planet IV: Australia, BBC 2019
The animals and plants here are armed: built to live alongside dinosaurs. ibid.
At nearly two metres tall, the cassowary rules this forest. ibid.
A little red flying fox … a wombat … kangaroos … dingoes … koalas … jumping spider … Reptiles: Australia has more species of them than any other continent … The wild budgerigar … Sharks: there are more species here than anywhere else on Earth … The Tasmanian devil … now endangered. ibid.
At the southern tip of the Australian continent lies a remote island. An immense wilderness divided by mountains. It’s a world of ancient forests, of pristine rivers and a coastline that’s both wild and beautiful. Its animal inhabitants are as extraordinary as they are bizarre. Natural World: Tasmania: Weird & Wonderful, BBC 2019
The Tasmanian devil: primarily scavengers, they can smell a carcass from half a mile away. ibid.
The Tasmanian giant lobster: weighing up to five kilos and a metre long, they’re the largest fresh water invertebrates on our planet. ibid.
Tasmanian platypuses are enormous: as much as three times heavier than their mainland counterparts. ibid.
Cast adrift in the far reaches of the southern hemisphere lies a continent separated from all other lands for 45 million years. Evolving in isolation, Nature has created a unique world of wonders: spiders that dance, birds that spread fire, where bouncing beats walking and youngsters are carried in pouches. It’s a world where animals had to adapt to surprising diverse landscapes and thrive in its vibrant seas. Australia: Earth’s Magical Kingdom, BBC 2019
This adaptable little creature [echidna] evolved tens of millions of years ago and is the most widespread of all Australia’s native animals. He will now spend 18 hours a day foraging. ibid.
Despite the platypus being furred, billed and truly aquatic, the pair [platypus and echidna] still share some unique characteristics. They are the world’s only egg-laying and milk-bearing mammals. ibid.
The marsupials: most familiar of all is the eastern grey kangaroo. ibid.
The grand hunter of the skies: Australia’s own eagle. ibid.
The shy and secretive numbat, the closest living relative to the extinct Tasmanian tiger … Numbats once ranged freely across Australia … There are now fewer than 1,000 left in the wild. ibid.
It’s a live-fast die-young existence on this forest floor. ibid.
There is one kangaroo that has never left its rainforest home … Its home is high in the gallery: a tree kangaroo. ibid.
Palmy bird: communicating in a way no other bird or wild animal is able. ibid.
It’s only here in Australia that black kites play with fire. ibid.
Papua New Guinea: Striped possum: they are marsupials, raising their babies in a pouch, and for defence, can let out very strong smells. Land of the Lost Volcano I, BBC 2016
A marsupial is a plantigrade vertebrate whose speciality is its pocket. In some countries it is extinct, in the others it is rare. The first American marsupials were Stephen Girard, Mr Astor, and the opossum; the principal marsupials of the Southern Hemisphere are Mr Rhodes, and the kangaroo. I, myself, am the latest marsupial. Also, I might boast that I have the largest pocket of them all. But there is nothing in that. Mark Twain, Following the Equator