Amazing Animals: Beakless birds and whale words

Scientific discoveries and animal behavior define this exploration of the natural world. Researchers recently confirmed the identity of a giant echidna, *Megaligualia owenii*, using 3D scanning on a century-old fossil found in Victoria. Meanwhile, a disabled Kea bird named Bruce demonstrates remarkable adaptability, successfully dominating his social group despite missing his upper beak. Literacy programs like "Story Dogs" leverage the calming presence of miniature poodles to help primary students gain confidence in reading aloud. In the far west of New South Wales, the *Gungaka* skink has been officially classified as a new, highly threatened species. Finally, Project SETI’s analysis of sperm whale communication reveals that these marine mammals utilize complex click patterns, or codas, which share phonetic and structural similarities with human language, potentially bridging the gap for future interspecies communication.