Reels tagged #australia
Wombats produce cube-shaped droppings
Their intestines have stretchy and stiff sections that mould waste into cubes — so it stays put on rocks and logs when marking territory.
Koala fingerprints fool forensic scanners
Koalas evolved looping ridged fingerprints almost indistinguishable from human ones under a microscope, likely for gripping eucalyptus branches and leaves.
Platypuses hunt with their eyes shut
Underwater a platypus closes its eyes, ears and nostrils and navigates purely by electroreception, sensing the faint electrical fields of shrimp and worms with its bill.
The largest living structure is visible from orbit
The Great Barrier Reef spans over 2,300 km and is built by billions of tiny coral polyps.
Kangaroos essentially cannot walk backwards
Their thick tail and huge hind feet make reversing impractical — one reason the kangaroo appears on Australia's coat of arms as a symbol of moving forward.
The Rainbow Serpent carved Australia's rivers
In many Aboriginal traditions, the Rainbow Serpent moved across the land during the Dreaming, its body gouging out riverbeds and waterholes and bringing the wet season rains.
Australia built a fence longer than the Great Wall
The Dingo Fence stretches about 5,600 kilometres across the southeast to keep dingoes away from sheep country, making it one of the longest structures on earth.