The hornbills are best known for their bizarre puppet-like appearance. However, the social lives of helmeted hornbills are even more outrageous than their brightly colored leathery visages.
Fact file: Helmeted Hornbill (Rhinoplax vigil)
Category: Fact files
Fact file: Attenborough’s long-beaked Echidna (Zaglossus attenboroughi)
Despite Attenborough’s long-beaked Echidna being one of the most evolutionarily distinct mammals it was only discovered in 1961 by a Dutch botanist in the cyclops mountains, Papua, Indonesia.
Fact file: Kroombit tinker frog (Taudactylus pleione)
The Taudactylus genus has been evolving in isolation for over 65 million years, basically, these frogs have been doing their own thing since the extinction of the dinosaurs!
Fact file: Brazilian guitarfish (Pseudobatos horkelii; Previously Rhinobatus horkelii)
The Brazilian guitarfish is a shark-like ray that has a unique reproductive cycle. It is one of the most endangered species in the south Atlantic with a population decline of over 80% in the last decades.
Fact file: Saola (Pseudoryx nghetinhensis)
The elusive saola, or two-horned unicorn, is cited to be one the rarest large animals on Earth, and has yet to been seen in the wild by a biologist!
Fact file: Maleo (Macrocephalon maleo)
As exemplary parents, the Maleo cooks its chicks in geothermal sands until they are just right.
Fact file: Cork-bark leaf-tail gecko (Uroplatus pietschmanni)
The cork-bark leaf-tail gecko is a master of disguise, but despite its perfect camouflage it can’t hide from habitat destruction.
Fact file: Mary River turtle (Elusor macrurus)
You should probably know that unlike most other turtles, Mary River turtles breathe with their butts!