Stay ConnectedAustralia is full of weird plants and animals. And Dr Ann Jones is on speaking terms with most of them!
Each week Ann explores the most unusual elements of our natural world — the ones that make you go What the Duck?! Like why do quolls have spots? Who farts (and who doesn’t)? And how do snakes climb trees?
Join Ann alongside experts and ordinary Aussies alike to solve mysteries, smash myths and uncover the bizarre truth about nature down under.
Copyright: © Copyright 2024, Australian Broadcasting Corporation. All right reserved.
If you ever wanted to be able to stick to walls like Spider-Man, then listen to this!
How do geckos and ants walk easily up walls and across the ceiling?
Is an insect foot sticky in the same way as a reptilian tootsie?
And how does underwater stickiness compare? Just how is that barnacle attached to that boat?
Featuring:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was originally broadcast in 2022 and produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and the Kaurna people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on the ABC Listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You’ll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.
This place is so extreme that NASA sends scientists to test equipment for Mars missions. And yet, Australia's salty lakes are full of life.
Featuring:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was originally broadcast in 2022 and was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and the Kaurna people.
Ann finds out that birds are not really blue. Not even bluebirds. If they're not blue, then what the duck are they?
Featuring:
Production:
This episode of What the Duck?! was originally broadcast in 2022 and was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and the Kaurna people.
Listen back to the What the Duck?! special broadcast with Dr Ann Jones and Cassie McCullagh.
After 65,000 votes, Australia has spoken — the rakali has been crowned Australia's most underrated native animal!
Raking in a whopping 20 per cent of the votes cast, the water rat was well out in front.
Here are the results:
You can also read more on the ABC News blog from the countdown:https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08-15/wildlife-blog-15-august-2025/105651126
Featuring:
Production:
They live off seagrass, and sound like a teeny bird, but can weigh in at more than 400 kilograms and will cut you with their tusks.
Dugongs (Dugong dugon) were once confused for mermaids.
Yanyuwa people in the Golf of Carpentaria have observed their roles in family groups and identified 16 different types of dugongs.
Cast your vote for Australia's most underrated animal here.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2025-08-01/science-week-underrated-australian-animal-vote/105582104Featuring:
Production:
It's a bold claim, but the palm cockatoo might be the most punk-rock bird of all.
The black and scarlet parrot lives in the rainforests and woodlands of Far North Queensland, as well as the Aru Islands and New Guinea.
With a wingspan of 1.5 metres, the palm cockatoo (Probosciger aterrimus) is an impressive bird, with a black mohawk and a powerful beak.
Cast your vote for Australia's most underrated animal here.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2025-08-01/science-week-underrated-australian-animal-vote/105582104Featuring:
Production:
This little orange lizard lives with his mum and poos outside. What's not to love?
The great desert skink (Liopholis kintorei) can be found in the deserts of the Northern Territory, South Australia, and Western Australia.
They live in large burrows in family groups, which is extremely unusual for reptiles.
Cast your vote for Australia's most underrated animal here.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2025-08-01/science-week-underrated-australian-animal-vote/105582104Featuring:
Production:
What has no eyes, no ears, and is barely ever seen? It's no riddle — it's the marsupial mole!
These tiny, golden creatures like to burrow through the sands in central Australia, making the two species of marsupial mole (Notoryctes) almost impossible to find.
Cast your vote for Australia's most underrated animal here.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2025-08-01/science-week-underrated-australian-animal-vote/105582104Featuring:
Production:
This tiny frog is pasty white, with big arms, a teeny head, and is — somehow — still absolutely adorable.
The turtle frog (Myobatrachus gouldii) can be found in a small part of south-west Western Australia.
They mostly live underground, and are one of only a few species of frog that burrow forwards instead of backwards.
Cast your vote for Australia's most underrated animal here:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2025-08-01/science-week-underrated-australian-animal-vote/105582104Featuring:
Production:
They can travel over land, climb walls and take down large prey. And that's all before the short-finned eel (Anguilla australis) makes it out into the ocean for their epic migration to mate.
The location is so remote, scientists still don't know what happens while they're there.
But then, as new baby eels, they need to swim thousands of kilometres back to the Australian mainland — and only one in every 10,000 hatchings make it.
Cast your vote for Australia's most underrated animal here:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2025-08-01/science-week-underrated-australian-animal-vote/105582104Featuring:
Production:
Our TOPPODCAST Picks 
