02x03 - Weird Creatures

[bunniefuu]

We're on a mission to find two
of the most unusual creatures.

And then there's
monotremes.

They're the world's
only egg-laying mammals.

[Martin]
but it's not just monotremes
under investigation.

There she goes!

[Martin]
chris, it's a giant
floating lasagna noodle!

[Chris]
what's a cucumber doing
at the bottom of the sea?

Sounds like a creature
worth investigating.

[Chris]
our study of weird wildlife
takes us back in time...

What does he name this
so-called creature?

[Martin]
and into the future
of space exploration.

[Chris as alien]
gweebar, there's a sack
of green fur scratching itself.

[Chris]
we'll explain how these
strange creatures came to be.

[Martin]
we can make weird creatures

If we combine
the right proportions.

We've reached
a new weird here.

[Chris]
it's weird wildlife wonders

That defy definition.

We're talking monotremes...

And all kinds
of incredible creatures

On this episode of...

Iarriba!
Iandale, andale!

Accessing location--
chris and martin kratt.

We're here in australia,

Camouflaged as greenery,

Because we hope to see

One of the world's
most unusual creatures.

This whacky creature
is one of only two

Egg-laying mammals
on the planet.

An egg-laying what?

They're also shy.
That's why we're
disguised as bushes.

Come on.

[Allison]
what kind of creature
adventure is this?

[Martin]
this stuff is prickly.

[Chris]
shh!

Ow!

Ow!

Ow!

[Allison]
hang on a second.
This doesn't make sense.

Australia has
all sorts of creatures

That don't exist
anywhere else in the world.

It's sort of like
a treasure chest of wildlife.

I mean, look at
the brush-tailed possum

Or the koala
or the eastern gray kangaroo.

These creatures exist
only in australia.

Right now, we're looking
for two weirder creatures.

One looks like a cross
between a duck, a frog,

A beaver,
and a chinchilla.

The other is like a mix
between an anteater
and a porcupine.

They're the world's
only egg-laying mammals,

And they're
around here someplace.

A mammal that lays eggs?
How's that possible?

[Chris]
hey, in the creature world,
anything'spossible!

[Martin]
which is why this episode

Is called...

[Chris]
we're talking strutting
thorny devils...

[Martin]
poison-packed caterpillars...

[Chris]
inflatable fish...

[Martin]
armor-plated mammals...

[Chris]


[Martin]
spiders who catch
their prey underwater...

[Chris]
kangaroos who live in trees...

[Martin]
and mammals who lay eggs.

[Allison]
hold it. What you're
talking about

Breaks every single rule
there is.

[Ttark]
oh, come on, al.

What is it about
you humans and rules?

There are no rules
in the nature world?

Sure, there are,
but not the ones
humans believe in.

Nature has
her own rules.

The way animals give birth
are set rules.

You've got placental mammals,
like horses and wildebeest,

Who give birth
to live young

That are well-developed
and ready for action.

Don't forget the marsupials.

Those are the mammals
with pouches,

Like kangaroos and koalas.

Their young are born small
and undeveloped.

They crawl into
their mothers' pouches to grow.

Birds lay eggs
that are full of food

To feed
the developing bird inside.

And what about amphibians?

They're animals who live
on land and in the water.

Amphibians lay eggs,

And in the case of frogs,
tonsof eggs.

They develop into tadpoles,
which develop into frogs.

And reptiles? Sea turtles
are the perfect example.

A sea turtle mom
is almost an egg machine,

Climbing up on land
to lay over 100 eggs at a time.

So there are your egg layers--
birds, amphibians, reptiles,

Even fish and insects.

[Ttark]
you're forgetting one.

There's all those egg layers,
and then there's monotremes.

What the heck
is a monotreme?

Wait. That must be
the creature the guys
were talking about.

Chris,
this egg-laying mammal,

Is it a monotreme?

Affirmative.

The aforementioned creature
is indeed a monotreme.

[Martin]
and we have begun...

Sounds to me like a creature
worth investigating.

First things first--

Location--eastern australia,
forestlands.

Second things second--

Have there been any sightings
of said creature?

That's a negatory
for the time being, chief,

But we're staked out at its
last known place of residence.

Everything looks
pretty normal.

Just the same old
cast of regulars--

The eastern gray kangaroo...

[Martin]
koala...

[Chris]
there's the emu...

[Martin]
and the dingo...

[Allison]
and the porcupine...

[Martin]
a porcupine?

[Chris]
martin, we found one!

[Bell ringing]

[Allison]
creature found? You're saying
a porcupine lays eggs?

[Chris]
this isn't a porcupine.

This is an echidna, one of
the only two egg-laying mammals.

[Martin]
echidnas and porcupines
do sort of look the same,

And they do both have
spines or quills.

[Chris]
hmm.

But they're
totally different creatures

From totally different parts
of the world.

[Martin]
the porcupine is
a placental mammal,

So it gives birth
to live young.

[Chris]
but the echidna
is a monotreme,

And her method of giving birth
is pretty special.

[Martin]
she lays cream-colored eggs
about the size of a grape.

[Chris]
she doesn't lay the eggs
in a nest like a bird does

But lays them in a pouch
on her belly,

Where the egg will hatch
and the baby will suckle milk.

[Martin]
so that's how the echidna
is an egg-laying mammal.

Wait. I think
I've almost got this.

Porcs and echidnas seemsimilar
with their spines and quills,

But they're not related.

That doesn't
seem possible, though.

[Martin]
an echidna has spines
a lot like a porcupine.

However, an echidna's spines
don't come out,

Although they do
provide protection.

Another way the echidna
defends itself

Is by digging
into the ground

When a predator
comes around.

Then it's nothing
but a pincushion of quills,

And the predator
can't get to it.

[Chris]
the echidna protects
its stomach and its head,

The most vulnerable parts
of its body.

[Martin]
unless this dingo wants to face
a shield of hard spines,

He'd better move on.

That's what I call
resourceful.

[Martin]
resourceful is right.

In addition to laying eggs,
she's a great ant grabber.

Ant grabbing
is no easy trick.

[Chris]
whoa! What's going on?

[Martin]
don't lose your head, chris!

It's just that some
of the weirdest ant grabbers

Belong to...

[Chris]
they're weird, they're kooky,

And they're related!

This member
of the edentata family

Prowls around in search
of multilegged wigglers,

And he looks like a pumped-up
fuzzy vacuum cleaner.

[Martin]
it's the giant anteater.

He digs ants
out of the ground,

But his cousin, the tamandua,
finds his meals in trees.

[Chris]
he's perfectly built
for it. He's got...

[Martin]
the claws and the schnoz...

[Chris]
perfect for tearing apart
and nosing around

In dead or dying wood,

And that's the best place
to find scores

Of juicy, wriggling
termites.

[Martin]
but if your thing is to climb
around trees looking for dinner,

You need...

[Chris]
ballast and balance.

[Martin]
you need to be
sure on your feet

And have a strong tail
to hold on with.

[Chris]
both of which
the tamandua has.

The tamandua has the right
equipment for the right job.

[Martin]
and speaking of being equipped,
how about this guy?

[Chris]
he's the edentata family's
armored omnivorous annihilator--

The armadillo.

[Martin]
in spanish, armadillo means
"little armored one,"

And as weird as it seems,

That's exactly what
this creature carries on him--

Armorlike skin.

[Chris]
but his armor doesn't
drag him down.

He'll do everything he can
to grab a snack.

He'll even swim for it.

[Martin]
to make sure he doesn't sink,
he puffs himself up with air.

Weird, but not as weird as...

[Chris]
the strangest member
of the edentata family.

[Martin]
he looks like an alien put here
on earth by space people.

[Chris as alien]
gweebar, isn't this where
we left that weird creature



[Martin as alien]
affirmative, goombar.
I wonder how he's fit in.

[Goombar]
I see something hanging
there in that tree.

[Gweebar]
let's get a closer look.

[Goombar]
make sure no earthlings see us.

[Goombar]
gweebar, it's got
very strange hair--

A mixture of black, brown,
yellow, orange, and white.

[Gweebar]
affirmative, goombar,

But it seems friendly.

[Goombar]
let's move in for a closer look.

[Gweebar]
goombar, I have
a funny feeling.

[Goombar]
funny feeling?

[Gweebar]
it can't be.

It isthe same creature
we left on earth



And in all that time,

It has only moved 6 feet.

[Chris]
all joking aside, the sloths
of central and south america

Are amazing creatures
in no big hurry.

[Martin]
when moving from tree to tree,

What takes a monkey
a few seconds

Will take a sloth
more than a day.

[Chris]
he's the strangest member
of the edentata family.

[Allison]
aren't we forgetting another
member of the edentata family--

The main anteater of all time,
the aardvark?

[Martin]
wrong!

The aardvark belongs
to another group of animals,

A very exclusive group.

[Chris]
the aardvark is one
of the weirdest mammals.

Check out the piglike nose,
the rabbitlike ears,

And blunt claws.

[Martin]
aardvarks use their claws
to dig up ants and termites,

Which they slurp up
with their long, sticky tongues.

[Chris]
we got to wonder,

How could such a creature
have come to exist?

[Martin]
here's one theory.

On august 3, 1928,
two professors from m.i.t.--

The mississauga
institute of technology--

Created the first
test-tube aardvark.

Professors boris and igor kratt
were quoted as saying

This was the greatest day
of their life--

Creating a creature
unlike any other.

[Chris]
sorry, but that theory
is totally wrong!

[Martin]
the aardvark is really
just a weird creature

That is the only member
of his own family

Called the tubulidentata.

See? Human rules
don't apply

In the creature world.

I'll give you
that mammals
can lay eggs,

But that doesn't mean
there are no rules
in the creature world.

But they're
nature's rules.

Those are different
from human rules.

As my old friend
the mastodon
used to say,

"When it comes
to nature,

Things are
what they are."

You mean take nature
at face value?

What about when things
look a certain way
but aren't?

[Chris]
and now another exciting episode
of salad or creature.

On this episode
of salad or creature,

We ask the question,
how weird can creatures get?

[Martin]
on the ocean floor,
you'll find all sorts of salad--

I mean creatures--
who are pretty weird.

[Chris]
check out the sea anemone.

[Martin]
someone could think that was
an overripe eggplant!

[Chris]
but they're creatures,
all right.

They use long tentacles
packed with a sting

To zap food floating by.

[Martin]
how about this?
Salad or creature?

[Chris]
creature. Thousandsof tiny
creatures called coral polyps.

They secrete a hard skeleton
in which to live.

[Martin]
thousands latch on
to each other,

Creating these wild, wacky,
and weird coral colonies.

[Chris]
what about
this?[Martin]
anemone--
creature.

This?jellyfish--
creature.

[Martin]
how about this?[Chris]
creature--
hydroid.

[Martin]
creature--lionfish.

[Chris]
tubasteria--creature.

[Martin]
this looks like a vegetable...

[Chris]
but it's all creature--
a sea cucumber.

[Martin]
that's a sea urchin--creature.

Whoa! This one has me stymied.

[Chris]
that's salad--turtle grass.

[Martin]
wow! These animals keep
breaking the rules.

[Chris]
hey, you want rule breakers?

When is a bird
a bird who doesn't fly?

[Martin]
check out any bird book,
and you'll find emus.

Emus can be found
only in australia,

And as birds go,
they're ginormous!

They can grow up to 6 feet tall.

The most distinct thing
about emus is they don't fly!

They've had to develop skills
to evade predators,

Like their long legs
and amazing eyesight.

Emu eyesight is so good,

They can keep in touch
with each other

Even when grazing
more than a mile apart.

[Chris]
you'd think a bird
that can't fly

Wouldn't be able
to migrate either.

[Martin]
not true. It's just that
an emu migrates on foot.

Emu chicks start off
pretty small.

[Chris]
yeah, but they've got
their own defenses.

Their striped down feathers
are great camouflage.

The little ones
grow up fast.

These little chicks are
sticking close to mom now,

But soon they'll fend
for themselves.

[Martin]
emus might seem strange,

But they're tall, tough,
and powerful birds.

[Chris]
check out another member
of the terrestrial bird family--

The ostrich
of wild africa.

Now, ostrich don't fly,

But their wings
still have long feathers.

[Martin]
they're partly for decoration.

A male ostrich uses
the white tufts of feathers

To attract females
during mating rituals.

[Chris]
and they use their wings
to help them run.

[Martin]
weird.

[Chris]
but true.

An ostrich senses danger
and has to make tracks.

The wings help him
keep his balance.

As the ostrich increases speed,
he holds his wings further out,

Moving them
with the neck,

Which really comes in handy
when changing direction.

[Martin]
those powerful legs
come in handy, too.

An ostrich can hit
up to 43 miles an hour!

That's impressive.

[Chris]
wait a minute. We forgot
another flightless bird

Who knows how
to get around--

Around the woods, that is.
Back to australia!

[Martin]
and to the most colorful member

Of the family of
flightless fowl--the cassowary.

[Chris]
compared to the ostrich

And its native
australian cousin, the emu,

The cassowary is small--
only 3 feet tall.

[Martin]
but she's a powerhouse,

Able to run
up to 35 miles an hour.

She hangs out
in the deep forests

And feeds on fruit.

[Chris]
and because she lives
in the forest,

She has added protection

The other
flightless birds don't.

[Martin]
the cassowary has
tough scales on her legs

And dense feathers
to protect her from branches...

And something else.

[Allison]
"something else" is right.

It's like it's wearing
a helmet.

What is that thing for?

The casque on its head
is thought to be used

To clear the vegetation
as the cassowary runs
through the forest,

Kind of like if we put
bike helmets on...

[Martin and chris]
and geronimo!

[Chris]
the thing about traveling
at high speeds

Through thick rain forest

Is you never know
what you'll find

On the other side
of the tree!

Oh!

Ooh!

Is there anyone
who didn't see that coming?

[Martin]
hey, we almost forgot

The classiest bird
that can't fly--

The penguin!

[Chris]
penguins are the most famous
example of flightless birds.

[Martin]
most people think snow and ice
when they think of penguins,

But these blue fairy penguins
come from australia,

One of the hottest places
on earth.

[Chris]
which is why they spend
their days in the water,

Keeping cool
and hunting fish.

They don't come ashore
until the sun's set.

[Martin]
what's that one doing?
He's separated from the others.

Looks like
he's on a mission.

[Chris]
now he's got company.
What are these two doing?

Hey, it looks like...

[Martin]
it looks like these penguins
are digging burrows!

I didn't even know
penguins dug burrows.

[Chris]
watching these creatures
just reminds you

That there really are no rules
in the creature world--

Flightless birds,
creatures that look like salad,

The edentatas, and...

[Allison]
the monotremes. That's how
this whole thing started.

Aren't there twomonotremes,
not just the echidna?

So where's the other one?

The one
that's very shy.

Well, we think
there's one

Just on
the other side
of these reeds.

[Allison]
that'sthe creature
we're looking for?

[Chris]
yeah, and there he went.

[Martin]
catching up to this guy
won't be easy.

O.k. If you put together
a duck's bill,

A beaver's tail,
and a frog's webbed feet,

What do you get?

All three of these--

The ducklike bill,
the beaverlike tail,

The froglike feet--

Come together
in the duck-billed
platypus.

[Chris]
how can we get close enough
to check one out?

[Martin]
I've got a brilliant plan!

A platypus spends most
of its active time underwater,

And because
they're so shy,

I might have the way
to get a good look

Without them
seeing me.

Just one problem
with your plan, bro.

Platypus don't see
underwater.

They swim with
their eyes closed.

This is incredible!

When it was first discovered,
most people thought

The duck-billed platypus
was a hoax.

Hoax! The duck-billed
platypus isn't a hoax!

What are you
talking about?

When british explorers
first went to australia

And found
the duck-billed platypus,

They sent a stuffed one
home to england.

That was 1798.

I wonder what the guys
back in england said

When they got
thatpackage.

What have you
got there, old man?

Another delivery
from stinky

In australia.

Stinky!
What a kidder!

Remember when
he tried to tell us
that in australia,

There were rats
that hopped like
grasshoppers?

Oh, yes! A kangaroo,
he called it.

[Laughs]

Oh, really!
Stinky!

What has he sent you
this time?

I don't know.

He must have paid
a fortune

To have this
put together!

What does he name
this so-called
creature?

Where is that card?

Here it is.

A "duck-billed platypus."

[Laughing]

Hard to imagine, eh?

It took scientists years
to believe

That the duck-billed platypus
was a real creature.

But haven't there always
been creatures so weird

That humans
can't figure them out?

A chris and martin kratt
scientific study

Into the weird world of...

Bugs, bugs, bugs,
and more bugs!

[Chris]
if the underwater world

Has perplexed
and fascinated humans

For its total weirdness,

Then another world
that has always amazed us

Is the bug world.

For weird creatures that really
do look like alien monsters,

It just can't be b*at.

[Martin]
we're all used to seeing
spiders in webs,

But did you know
that the fishing spider

Can swim underwater
and catch fish?

It does it by pretending
to be dead.

What it does is
this great acting job

Of keeling over
and appearing to buy the farm.

Then when its intended prey
comes by to check it out,

It pops back to life
and devours the guy!

We all know about the baboons
in africa--

Some of the coolest primates
of all time--

But there's anotherbaboon
in africa--

The baboon spider!

He's as wide
as an adult human hand

And will even chow down
on things as big as small birds.

This spider is so big,
he even has fingerprints!

[Chris]
totally weird!

How about this one--
kangaroos hop on the ground,

But have you ever heard
of a kangaroo

That lives in trees
and hops from branch to branch?

Believe it or not, it's real.
It's called the tree kangaroo.

He uses his tail for balance
as he moves in search of food

And can leap to the ground
from a height of 40 feet!

Speaking of leaping,
how about squirrels?

We all know squirrels
who run from tree to tree,

The kind who cache nuts,

But how about flying squirrels
and sugar gliders?

They actually glide
from tree to tree.

[Martin]
it's weird,
no denying it.

How about a devil
who isn't devilish at all--

The thorny devil--

The coolest strutting lizard
of the australian outback.

[Chris]
he's only 6 inches long
and weighs only about 3 ounces,

But he can eat


And he only eats
one kind of ant.

[Martin]
that jerky walking style--that's
his way of avoiding predators--

That andhis thorny spines.

If a predator
goes for him, ouch!

[Chris]
I'd love to be a thorny devil
strutting my stuff!

[Martin]
give it a try.

[Disco music playing]

[Ttark]
o.k. I can see you humans think

Some creatures
are a little strange,

But why wouldn't
humans believe

There was such a thing
as a duck-billed platypus?

One of the reasons
people doubted the existence

Of the duck-billed platypus

Is because it just
isn't seen very often.

But if you spend enough time
near the riverbank

Where there are
plenty of worms,

Eventually you'll see one.

Worms are one of the duck-billed
platypus' favorite foods.

You want worms?
I'll give you worms--

The great gippsland
giant earthworm.

They can grow up to 10 feet
and an inch in diameter.

Try hooking that
on your fishhook.

Gippy the earthworm's nothing!

You should have been around
in prehistoric times.

I had a friend
who got to be 20 feet long.

You'd spend hours
just watching him go by.

What's cool
about earthworms

Is that they breathe
through their skin.

They don't have
gills or lungs.

They get air from
between the particles of earth

That they dig through.

[Whispering]
psst! Martin!

When it rains,
the airspaces become flooded.

The earthworms have to come out,
or they'll drown.

I found
the platypus.

[Chris]
we found her--

The second
egg-laying mammal,

The amazing
duck-billed platypus!

[Martin]
she nurses her own young
with milk...

[Chris]
and has a full coat of fur.

[Martin]
it was worth the wait
to check her out.

[Chris]
one reason we had
a hard time finding her

Was because the platypus hides
in her burrow.

She only comes out at dusk
to look for food,

Like crayfish and worms.

[Martin]
well, "looking" isn't
really the right word

Because platypus swim
with their eyes closed.

[Chris]
she uses other abilities
to catch food.

[Martin]
those webbed feet propel her
through the water,

While the rear feet steer.

In other words...

To swim like a platypus,

You need flippers
on your feet and hands.

[Allison]
look at it go!

[Chris]
no kidding! I had no idea
martin could swim that well.

[Allison]
I meant the platypus.

She's using the webbed feet,
the streamlined body...

[Chris]
and an extra sense!

She uses that extra sense
to grab her prey.

She detects
the electrical vibrations

Put out by the crayfish
with her bill.

She makes her move, and...

That's the end
of the crayfish!

[Allison]
the platypus is a great swimmer,
a great predator...

[Chris]
and a great digger.
Take it, martin.

A platypus uses
its digging skills

To burrow into the riverbank
and make its nest.

A platypus nest can sometimes be


With multiple entrances--

The ultimate fort!

[Chris]
while the duck-billed platypus
may seem to be

One of the weirdest creatures
we've encountered yet--

Weird? It's only weird
if you ignore history.

When did australia
break off from the rest
of the world?

I don't know.

Millions
of years ago.

What was happening
around that time?

A lot of moving
around?

Lots of moving around.
It's called...

[Imitates trumpet fanfare]

Evolution!

You see, when things change,
you've got to adapt.

The platypus adapted,
developing webbed feet
and fur,

Feeding
its young with milk,
and laying eggs, right?

Egg-xactly!

It's made perfectly
for where it lives
and what it does,

So there's nothing weird
about the platypus.

The case of
the missing monotremes

Is solved.

An egg-laying mammal
isn't weird. It's natural.

In fact, all of the creatures
you folks call weird

Are perfectly natural.

It's just that you humans
try to categorize

And decide who makes sense
and who doesn't.

That's the only thing
that makes some weird

And some not weird.

Look, and you'll see
that they're not weird.

They're amazing and built to do
what they need to do.

Remember, all these creatures
belong on this earth,

And they're all
perfectly natural...

As natural as, say,
a carnivorous red kangaroo.

A carnivorous
red kangaroo?

Sure. The guys are in c.r.k.
Territory right now.

Did you hear that, guys?

Ttark says you're

In carnivorous
red kangaroo territory
right now.

A carnivorous
red kangaroo?

I believe this is where
you humans would say,

"Gotcha!"

O.k. So he got me...

This time.