Weird exceptions

Bis forBat (animal)

Scientific name: order: chiroptera

A bat is a flying animal (not a bird). Its arms have evolved into wings. Most bats eat fruit or insects. Bats usually travel around at night and sleep during the day. They hang upside down by their feet in trees or on the ceiling of caves.

Mammals, Weird exceptions

Raphael Quinet / CC BY-SA

Cis forCassowary

Scientific name: casuarius casuarius

Cassowaries are very large flightless birds that live in tropical forests of New Guinea and northeastern Australia. The only birds bigger than the cassowary are the ostrich and emu. Cassowaries mainly eat fruit, but will also eat new shoots, seeds and fungi, insects and small animals. Cassowaries usually travel around on their own except when it is time to find a mate and lay eggs. The booming noise the cassowary makes is the lowest known bird call, and is so low humans can only just hear it.

Birds, Australian animals, Weird exceptions

Blathlean / CC BY-SA

Eis forEmu

Scientific name: dromaius novaehollandiae

Emus are a large flightless bird that lives in Australia. It is the second-largest bird, after the ostrich. They eat insects and some plants. Emus lay very large, speckly blue eggs with hard shells. The male emu looks after the eggs and babies.

Birds, Australian animals, Weird exceptions

Richard Giddins / CC BY-SA

Fis forFlying fish

Flying fish are a type of fish with very big fins. They can jump out of the water to get away from things that want to eat them, and then they glide through the air for some distance before they fall back into the water again. They can glide for around 50-400 metres, and reach speeds of up to 70km/h. Flying fish eat plankton, and are themselves eaten by tuna and dolphins.

Fish, Weird exceptions

Mike's birds / CC BY-SA

Fis forFlying fox

A flying fox is a type of very large bat with a wingspan as wide as a person's arms and a face that looks a bit like a fox. It lives in warm places and mostly eats fruit and nectar.

Mammals, Australian animals, Weird exceptions

Fis forFlying squirrel

Scientific name: tribe: pteromyini

Flying squirrels are a variety of squirrel that has a flap of skin joining its front and back legs. Flying squirrels can spread out this flap like a parachute to glide between trees.

Rodents, Weird exceptions

Allie Caulfield / CC BY-SA

Kis forKiwi

Scientific name: apteryx mantelli

Kiwi are flightless birds from New Zealand. They are around the size of a chicken, and for their body size they lay the largest egg. The kiwi is a national symbol of New Zealand. Not to be confused with the kiwi fruit.

Birds, Australian animals, Weird exceptions

Alan Manson / CC BY-SA

Ois forOstrich

Scientific name: struthio camelus

The ostrich is a large flightless bird that is native to Africa. It is the largest bird in the world, and is farmed for its meat, skin and feathers. The ostrich egg when first laid contains the largest single cell on earth.

Birds, Weird exceptions

Karl Normington / CC BY-SA

Pis forPenguin

Scientific name: family: spheniscidae

Penguins are birds that live in the sea in the southern half of the world. There are many different kinds of penguin. They are excellent swimmers and are well-adapted to cold water. They eat fish and other small sea animals. Penguins cannot fly - their wings are used as flippers when they are swimming. Some people think penguins look like they are wearing a tuxedo.

Birds, Weird exceptions

Comfortably Gruntled / CC BY-SA

Sis forSugar glider

Scientific name: petaurus breviceps

The sugar glider is a small marsupial found in Australia and New Guinea that looks like a tiny possum. Sugar gliders have a flap of skin between their front and back legs on both sides that they can stretch out and use to glide. Sugar gliders can jump out of trees and glide through the air to another tree, like a flying squirrel. Sugar gliders eat the sweet sap of some trees, and some types of nectar.

Marsupials, Australian animals, Weird exceptions