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Synopsis
When the first dried specimen of a platypus arrived in England in 1799 it was greeted with astonishment and disbelief. Nineteenth-century naturalists struggled to classify the platypus and the little animal excited curiosity and sparked fierce debate in international scientific circles. This volume presents the enigmatic story of a biological riddle that confounded scientists for many years, challenging theories of creationism, evolution and the classification of species along the way.
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Review
Consider the platypus, that curious Australian creature that seems neither fish nor reptile nor mammal, but that has characteristics seemingly borrowed from all over the animal kingdom. Charles Darwin certainly considered it, puzzling over the platypus in the light of the rest of the world's creatures, and remarking, "Surely two distinct Creators must have been at work."
Australian historian of science Ann Moyal offers plenty of natural-historical information on the platypus in this slender, enjoyable book. What's more, she examines the sometimes shocked reactions the platypus inspired in European naturalists when they first saw specimens of the creature at the dawn of the 19th century. For, Moyal writes, the platypus almost single-handedly (or, perhaps better, single-web-footedly) overturned the prevailing classification of animals according to great-chain-of-being models; with its hodgepodge of physical traits and behaviors, it offered "an unexpected bridge between the categories of mammal/quadruped and reptiles and birds." That bridge helped set evolutionary theory on a new course; as Moyal writes, the platypus played an explicit role in Charles Darwin's ideas on isolation, species diversity, and natural selection, and he branded it a prime example of a "living fossil" that had managed to find an unoccupied ecological niche and live, relatively undisturbed, while fellow creatures marched toward extinction.
Scientists continue to study the platypus, Moyal writes in closing, for its remarkable traits, including a seeming sixth sense that helps it locate its prey in the underwater darkness. Her graceful book sheds new light on the history of biology and ought to earn Ornithorhynchus anatinus many new admirers. --Gregory McNamee
About the Author
Ann Moyal is a well-known historian of Australian science and has held research and teaching positions at a number of Australian universities. She has written many books and articles and is founder and past-president of the Independent Scholars Association of Australia. She now lives in Canberra.
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- PublisherAllen & Unwin
- Publication date2001
- ISBN 10 1865083739
- ISBN 13 9781865083735
- BindingHardcover
- LanguageEnglish
- Edition number1
- Number of pages226
- Rating
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Platypus: The Extraordinary Story Of How A Curious Creature Baffled The World
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Allen & Unwin Sydney 2001, 2001
ISBN 10: 1865083739
ISBN 13: 9781865083735
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