Distorted moles to lesser bilbies: a new way to marvel at Australia’s supremely weird and unique mammals

This 3D reconstruction of the extinct lesser bilby skeleton is one of 189 Australian mammals in a new public database of 3D scans of bones and skeletons. Photograph: Erin Mein

The skeleton of Australia’s supremely weird southern marsupial mole has a distorted skull “that looks like a god rammed it into a mountain side on its day of creation”, says Vera Weisbecker.

It is one of 189 Australian mammals in a new public database of 3D scans of bones and skeletons where users can spin the mole’s skeleton around, zooming in and out, to marvel at its oddness.