A cornucopia of tiny, bizarre whales used to live in Australian waters – here’s one of them

Art by Ruairidh Duncan

Australia is home to a unique bunch of native land mammals, such as koalas, wombats and wallabies. These furballs evolved in isolation on this island continent and have become Australian symbols.

But between 27 and 23 million years ago, the coastal seas of Australia were also home to sea mammals found almost nowhere else: whales.