Geography of New Caledonia a refugium, in effect a biological "Noah's Ark", an island home to both unique living plants and animals and also to its own special fossil endowment. Birds such as the crested and almost flightless kagu (French, "cagou") "Rhynochetos jubatus", whose closest relative may be the distantly related sunbittern of South America, and plants such as "Amborella trichopoda", the only known member of the most basal living branch of flowering plants, make this island a treasure trove and a critical concern for biologists and conservationists. The island was home to horned fossil turtles ("Meiolania mackayi") and terrestrial fossil crocodiles ("Mekosuchus inexpectatus")
A Creature I Don't Know Can" was a towering musical achievement, "A Creature I Don't Know" is an emotional triumph". "This real-life fairytale is made up of myriad difficult home truths but Marling's hejira, her flight to freedom, makes for absolutely compelling listening", Priya Elan concludes. Speaking of possible influences, Joshua Love of Pitchfork mentions (apart from Joni Mitchell) Fairport Convention, Leonard Cohen, Fiona Apple, Tori Amos, and PJ Harvey. Yet, "Laura Marling's music feels timeless...Her songs feel divorced from time, lacking clues or signposts to indicate whether her stories and scenes might be set 500 years ago or yesterday… Often with Marling it's not