Y is for yapok It is an opossum which swims, so the female's pouch can tightly close to stop the babies from drowning
A is for ajolote The name comes from Nahuatl and means "little lizard with big ears" because they only have forelimbs, which supposedly look like ears because they are situated directly behind the head.
B is for Black sicklebill. The black sicklebill is one of only 4 (three if the Macgregor's BoP is a honeyeater) that is vulnerable to global extinction. It is also the largest of the four sicklebills.
E is for emu It is the largest bird in Australasia. Americans pronounce it "ee-moo". At one time the Australian government declared war on emus, sending in the army to machine-gun flocks to protect farmers' crops. The Australian government is funny.
F is for Fanaloka which has the scientific name of Fossa fossa; not to be confused with the Fossa which is Crytoprocta ferox. Both are carnivores endemic to Madagascar.
H is for Haddock When spawning, each female sheds about 12,000 eggs every 30 hours or so, with a final total of around 200,000 eggs.
J is for Jackbird, which was the name given to the immatures of the South Island saddleback of NZ. They look so different to the adults that they were originally thought to be separate species.
K is for Kawekaweau aka Hoplodactylus delcourti, a giant among geckos with one of the weirdest of all animal discovery stories. Kawekaweau - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
L is for Lemming the whole thing about them commiting mass-suicide by jumping off cliffs stems largely from a faked Disney "documentary"
M is for maral. It lives in Siberia and was considered a race of Red Deer, but Red Deer was found to be several species.
O is for octopus. The octopus has only one hard part of it's body, the beak. This means that it can fit into incredibly small places, as long as it's beak can too.
Q is for quelea. The red billed quelea is the most numerous bird (non-captive, or domestic) on the planet.
R is for Ring-tailed Lemur. Johnny Morris used to have one called Dottie on Animal Magic. Dottie's daughter Coata was one of the founders of the present colony at Chester Zoo.
