From the alien blue-ringed octopus, which carries enough venom to kill 26 adult humans within minutes, to the duck-billed platypus(opens in new tab) with its patchwork anatomy, Australia is packed with species that, to the rest of the world, don't make a lot of sense. During Earth's geographical evolution, the smallest of the seven continents, modern-day Australia, broke away from a supercontinent called Gondwana(opens in new tab) that dominated the world's landscape hundreds of millions of years ago. This meant that the species living in Australia didn't evolve in quite the same way as animals elsewhere on Earth, with the exception of migrating species that could fly or swim beyond the shores of Australia. This has resulted in some of the most fascinating, frightening and downright odd animals ever to walk on the planet. Ocean sunfish (Mola mola)
