“… the rate of change is escalating in terms of climate and fire and what humans have done to alter their habitat in the last 200 years. A lot of the species are not well adapted to cope with rapid change.”

Spinies can live for decades – some maybe 50 years – and are found in pockets across a massive range, from the far north of Queensland to South Australia, from rainforests to alpine bogs.

They grow by regularly moulting their hard shell and have to survive at least five years before they can reproduce.

Across the species, they face threats from feral pigs and foxes, poachers and the degradation of the shady creeks and banks that many of the species call home.

But… their main threat is climate change, which is raising the temperature of the water, drying out the creeks and making their habitat more susceptible to bushfires.