Platypus by Ann Moyal, Smithsonian Institute Press, $21.95, ISBN
1560989777
WHEN the first platypus arrived in Europe it was condemned as a sloppily made
fake with its bird-like bill and webbed feet. 鈥淚f it makes milk, then where is
the butter?鈥� asked French biologist Geoffroy St-Hilaire, unable to believe that
such a stiff-beaked animal could suckle. In Platypus Ann Moyal explores how
scientists have since perceived the furred, but skeletally semi-reptilian,
animal that lays eggs and suckles its young. With an all-star cast that includes
Linnaeus, Georges Cuvier, Richard Owen, Charles Darwin, and, of course, the
eponymous monotreme, Moyal provides a seamless compilation of historical fact,
evolutionary theory and general zoology, even poems. It is a joyful and
fascinating read.
European theorists refused to believe the reports from Antipodean academics
and their Aboriginal informants. The odyssey of the platypus is a journey helped
by young turks and hindered by establishment figures clinging to the discoveries
of their own youth in the face of new evidence. Sounds familiar?
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Written in a light and pleasing style that neither skimps nor swamps with
detail, it鈥檚 a gem for the natural history enthusiast.