‘Before you were stared down by a family of snow leopards’ and ‘after you were stared down by a family of snow leopards’. It sometimes feels as though these hard-earned encounters divide one’s life into discrete chunks. For example, over the years I have spent what adds up to several fruitless weeks sat at the edge of countless British bodies of water failing to see a Eurasian otter (the closest thing we have to a platypus, ecologically speaking), until I finally found one in a stream running through the middle of the town of Frome in Somerset, while teenagers loudly performed donuts in the supermarket parking lot right alongside. All zoologists have these biological bucket lists and they typically define how nature-nerds spend their time, working hard to find and observe the animals that fascinate them most.Īs well as platypuses, my list also includes species that are relatively widespread and found closer to home. It may seem childish that a grown adult – particularly one that works in science – has a favourite animal, and perhaps it is, but the more I learn about them, the more I am convinced that nothing more wonderful has ever evolved.įollowing those undergraduate classes, finding platypuses in the wild shot straight to the top of my zoological to-do list. Read More about Platypus Matters Read Less about Platypus MattersĮver since I first encountered them as museum specimens at university, platypuses have been my favourite animals. Important, timely, and written with humor and wisdom by a scientist and self-described platypus nerd, this celebration of Australian wildlife will open eyes and change minds about how we contemplate and interact with the natural world-everywhere. Ashby makes clear that calling these animals “weird” or “primitive”-or incorrectly implying that Australia is an “evolutionary backwater,” a perception that can be traced back to the country’s colonial history-has undermined conservation: Australia now has the worst mammal extinction rate of any place on Earth. Informed by his own experiences meeting living marsupials and egg-laying mammals during fieldwork in Tasmania and mainland Australia, as well as his work with thousands of zoological specimens collected for museums over the last two-hundred-plus years, Ashby’s tale not only explains historical mysteries and debunks myths (especially about the platypus), but also reveals the toll these myths can take. In Platypus Matters, naturalist Jack Ashby shares his love for these often-misunderstood animals. But how does the world regard these creatures? And what does that mean for their conservation? And what about antechinuses-tiny marsupial carnivores whose males don’t see their first birthday, as their frenzied sex lives take so much energy that their immune systems fail? Platypuses, possums, wombats, echidnas, devils, kangaroos, quolls, dibblers, dunnarts, kowaris: Australia has some truly astonishing mammals, with incredible, unfamiliar features. Or a wombat: Their teeth never stop growing, they poop cubes, and they defend themselves with reinforced rears. Think of a platypus: They lay eggs (that hatch into so-called platypups), produce milk without nipples and venom without fangs, and can detect electricity. Scientifically informed and funny, a firsthand account of Australia’s wonderfully unique mammals-and how our perceptions impact their future.
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