A pig-beaver-hippo-cow-camel hybrid that eats its own poop?
Discover this wild creature and more in the Wildlife Compendium of the World, which features awe-inspiring animals from every continent.
From amphibians and reptiles to monotremes and pilosa, discover the world’s fauna in this illustrated book by Tania McCartney.
Continent by continent, readers can take a global tour through the wildest, weirdest and cutest animals.
Each animal profile includes the Latin name, type, diet, size, weight, conservation status, curious facts, and the collective noun or baby name.
Meet a slug that resembles a banana and a fuzzball mammal with 90 strands of hair per follicle.
Marvel at an ant that burns like fire, and the creature with the shortest lifespan on Earth – only five minutes.
Discover that a group of bears is called a sloth and a baby lizard is a hatchling.
The gentoo penguin is the fastest swimmer of all penguins, reaching up to 36 kilometres an hour.
They can dive up to 200 metres 450 times a day in search of food, and ban unfaithful mates from the colony.
Africa’s meerkat wins the ‘Most Skilled Guard’ award. It’s cute but fierce, willing to fight for its territory and ceaselessly scanning the sky.
Meerkats are immune to most venom, so dine on snakes and scorpions.
Closer to home, the short-beaked echidna is found all over Australia.
The spiky monotreme can did one metre down to find food and can even dive underwater.
The book also features sections on animal types and environments, animal rights, and a glossary.
Canberra-based author Tania McCartney has made more than 60 books for children and adults and has illustrated, edited and designed many of them too.
