National Animals of Oceania
Oceania's symbols are the most distinctive because so many of its species exist nowhere else. The kiwi, the laughing kookaburra, the thylacine and the kakapo are all endemic, and the islands of the Pacific contribute their own specialists, from the dugong in Vanuatu to the sulphur-crested cockatoo.
Australia
Osphranter rufus
Featured on the national coat of arms because kangaroos can't easily walk backwards.
Fiji
Trichoglossus rubrogularis
This crimson-and-purple parrot is endemic to Fiji and appears on its 1-cent coin.
New Zealand
Apteryx mantelli
Kiwis are so unusual they've been called 'honorary mammals'.
Papua New Guinea
Paradisaea raggiana
This bird appears on Papua New Guinea's flag with its plumes fanned out.
Samoa
Didunculus strigirostris
The tooth-billed pigeon, Samoa's national bird, is called the 'little dodo' and nearly as rare.
Solomon Islands
Haliaeetus sanfordi
This sea eagle is found only on the Solomon Islands and nowhere else on Earth.
Vanuatu
Dugong dugon
Vanuatu is one of the last places in the Pacific where dugongs come to shallow lagoons.
National animals of other continents
Can you place them on the globe?
Explore how many you can identify from the animal alone.