International Day of Biodiversity is the perfect opportunity to remind ourselves that we as a species are profoundly lucky to be on the earth at the same time as the greatest animal that has ever evolved.
#BiodiversityDay #Platypus #fieldwork #Tasmania #PlatypusMatters #MammalWatching #WildOz
#BiodiversityDay #Platypus #fieldwork #Tasmania #PlatypusMatters #MammalWatching #WildOz
May 22, 2025 at 7:38 AM
International Day of Biodiversity is the perfect opportunity to remind ourselves that we as a species are profoundly lucky to be on the earth at the same time as the greatest animal that has ever evolved.
#BiodiversityDay #Platypus #fieldwork #Tasmania #PlatypusMatters #MammalWatching #WildOz
#BiodiversityDay #Platypus #fieldwork #Tasmania #PlatypusMatters #MammalWatching #WildOz
I'm loving seeing the pics of #PlatypusMatters that appeared in people's Christmas stockings! 🎁📚
There's surely no better present than the gift of #platypuses! 🤩
There's surely no better present than the gift of #platypuses! 🤩
Oh nice, see what I got… 😷
@jackdashby.bsky.social
@jackdashby.bsky.social
December 27, 2024 at 1:04 PM
I'm loving seeing the pics of #PlatypusMatters that appeared in people's Christmas stockings! 🎁📚
There's surely no better present than the gift of #platypuses! 🤩
There's surely no better present than the gift of #platypuses! 🤩
Everybody loves #Echidna Taxidermy Fails!
In #PlatypusMatters, I make the case that no species are more often inaccurately depicted in #taxidermy as #echidnas are.
In #PlatypusMatters, I make the case that no species are more often inaccurately depicted in #taxidermy as #echidnas are.
Have you ever spotted a museum specimen with this mistake? I learned about this common mistake in @jackdashby.bsky.social ‘s book ‘Platypus matters’ - which I highly recommend! Have been keeping my eye out on museum visits ever since.
December 18, 2025 at 7:37 AM
Everybody loves #Echidna Taxidermy Fails!
In #PlatypusMatters, I make the case that no species are more often inaccurately depicted in #taxidermy as #echidnas are.
In #PlatypusMatters, I make the case that no species are more often inaccurately depicted in #taxidermy as #echidnas are.
As I argue in #PlatypusMatters, Australia has the world's best mammals, but is sadly the worst place on Earth to be a mammal, with the planet's worst #extinction rate.
The Christmas Island shrew is now the latest species to be officially declared extinct.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
The Christmas Island shrew is now the latest species to be officially declared extinct.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
And then there were none: Australia’s only shrew declared extinct
The tally of Australian mammals extinct since 1788 is now 39 species – far more than for any other country
www.theguardian.com
October 11, 2025 at 3:05 PM
As I argue in #PlatypusMatters, Australia has the world's best mammals, but is sadly the worst place on Earth to be a mammal, with the planet's worst #extinction rate.
The Christmas Island shrew is now the latest species to be officially declared extinct.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
The Christmas Island shrew is now the latest species to be officially declared extinct.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Don't worry, it's not too late to tell everyone you want #PlatypusMatters: The Extraordinary Story of Australian Mammals for Christmas.
December 17, 2024 at 9:46 AM
Don't worry, it's not too late to tell everyone you want #PlatypusMatters: The Extraordinary Story of Australian Mammals for Christmas.
I truly love a real bookshop, but for reasons I can't explain, finding my book on sale in airport bookstores feels more real than finding it in proper classy, curated bookstores. Thanks, Sydney Airport! ☺️ #PlatypusMatters
November 16, 2024 at 2:20 AM
I truly love a real bookshop, but for reasons I can't explain, finding my book on sale in airport bookstores feels more real than finding it in proper classy, curated bookstores. Thanks, Sydney Airport! ☺️ #PlatypusMatters
Aww there's a lush new ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Amazon review of #PlatypusMatters. It really means a lot to know it resonates 😊
"Absolutely excellent book about absolutely excellent subject. Uses platypus as a wedge to learn so much about mammal evolution, diversity, and the natural and human history of Australia."
"Absolutely excellent book about absolutely excellent subject. Uses platypus as a wedge to learn so much about mammal evolution, diversity, and the natural and human history of Australia."
July 12, 2025 at 10:00 AM
Aww there's a lush new ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Amazon review of #PlatypusMatters. It really means a lot to know it resonates 😊
"Absolutely excellent book about absolutely excellent subject. Uses platypus as a wedge to learn so much about mammal evolution, diversity, and the natural and human history of Australia."
"Absolutely excellent book about absolutely excellent subject. Uses platypus as a wedge to learn so much about mammal evolution, diversity, and the natural and human history of Australia."
I hadn't spotted that #PlatypusMatters has now come out in paperback in the US! It's got excellent book-feel! 😍
(The UK/Australian version is also out in all formats!)
The perfect way to spend Christmas gift vouchers 📚
(The UK/Australian version is also out in all formats!)
The perfect way to spend Christmas gift vouchers 📚
January 7, 2025 at 3:58 PM
I hadn't spotted that #PlatypusMatters has now come out in paperback in the US! It's got excellent book-feel! 😍
(The UK/Australian version is also out in all formats!)
The perfect way to spend Christmas gift vouchers 📚
(The UK/Australian version is also out in all formats!)
The perfect way to spend Christmas gift vouchers 📚
It is a well-known scientific fact that the best Easter egg-laying animals are mammals: the #platypus and #echidnas.🥚
The idea that #mammals could lay eggs was one of the most controversial debates in 19th-century zoology, as it undermined how western scientists classified animals.
#PlatypusMatters
The idea that #mammals could lay eggs was one of the most controversial debates in 19th-century zoology, as it undermined how western scientists classified animals.
#PlatypusMatters
April 20, 2025 at 7:47 AM
It is a well-known scientific fact that the best Easter egg-laying animals are mammals: the #platypus and #echidnas.🥚
The idea that #mammals could lay eggs was one of the most controversial debates in 19th-century zoology, as it undermined how western scientists classified animals.
#PlatypusMatters
The idea that #mammals could lay eggs was one of the most controversial debates in 19th-century zoology, as it undermined how western scientists classified animals.
#PlatypusMatters
NICE big piles of #PlatypusMatters on show at #LondonZoo shop! 🤩
(@zslofficial.bsky.social we're kind enough to grant me the ZSL Award for Communicating Zoology for this book.)
(@zslofficial.bsky.social we're kind enough to grant me the ZSL Award for Communicating Zoology for this book.)
July 2, 2026 at 1:59 PM
NICE big piles of #PlatypusMatters on show at #LondonZoo shop! 🤩
(@zslofficial.bsky.social we're kind enough to grant me the ZSL Award for Communicating Zoology for this book.)
(@zslofficial.bsky.social we're kind enough to grant me the ZSL Award for Communicating Zoology for this book.)
Platypuses & #echidnas are obviously the best things to have ever evolved, but THEY AREN'T ANY WEIRDER THAN ANY OTHER KIND OF ANIMAL.
As I argue in my book #PlatypusMatters, calling them "odd" is a subconcious colonial hangover. Cool story about their origins tho:
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
As I argue in my book #PlatypusMatters, calling them "odd" is a subconcious colonial hangover. Cool story about their origins tho:
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
April 29, 2025 at 11:32 AM
Platypuses & #echidnas are obviously the best things to have ever evolved, but THEY AREN'T ANY WEIRDER THAN ANY OTHER KIND OF ANIMAL.
As I argue in my book #PlatypusMatters, calling them "odd" is a subconcious colonial hangover. Cool story about their origins tho:
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
As I argue in my book #PlatypusMatters, calling them "odd" is a subconcious colonial hangover. Cool story about their origins tho:
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
The multi-award winning🏅 #PlatypusMatters tells the story of the world's best animals - the #platypus & its Aussie buddies - exploring not only the incredible ways they live their lives, but also how the wider world came to know them, and how this history shapes their conservation today.
December 8, 2025 at 8:02 AM
The multi-award winning🏅 #PlatypusMatters tells the story of the world's best animals - the #platypus & its Aussie buddies - exploring not only the incredible ways they live their lives, but also how the wider world came to know them, and how this history shapes their conservation today.
Happy #WorldEchidnaDay to the world's second best animal (nothing beats a #platypus). #Echidnas are spiny, digging anteaters, & if threatened, sink vertically into the soil by doing jazz-hands with all four feet. My book #PlatypusMatters tells their story, & how the world came to know them. #echidna
July 19, 2025 at 7:09 AM
Happy #WorldEchidnaDay to the world's second best animal (nothing beats a #platypus). #Echidnas are spiny, digging anteaters, & if threatened, sink vertically into the soil by doing jazz-hands with all four feet. My book #PlatypusMatters tells their story, & how the world came to know them. #echidna
How and why Australian mammals have consistently been written-off by much of the world is the key theme of my book #PlatypusMatters, and the brilliant @zoekeansci.bsky.social has written a great article on this topic (& thanks to her for the shout-out!).🦘🐨 Have a read:
www.abc.net.au/news/science...
www.abc.net.au/news/science...
Once dismissed as 'low mammals', marsupials are Australian survivors
Many marsupials have become Aussie icons, such as kangaroos, koalas and wombats, yet we still need to pay more attention to this amazing group of animals, experts argue.
www.abc.net.au
August 14, 2025 at 7:49 AM
How and why Australian mammals have consistently been written-off by much of the world is the key theme of my book #PlatypusMatters, and the brilliant @zoekeansci.bsky.social has written a great article on this topic (& thanks to her for the shout-out!).🦘🐨 Have a read:
www.abc.net.au/news/science...
www.abc.net.au/news/science...
I've never been more pleased to see #PlatypusMatters on sale than in the little shop at #CradleMountain Lodge. I started writing it by the fire here on evenings after #fieldwork, and have spent countless hours sat on this log - just minutes away - watching for #platypuses It has come full circle 🥰
September 25, 2025 at 8:10 AM
I've never been more pleased to see #PlatypusMatters on sale than in the little shop at #CradleMountain Lodge. I started writing it by the fire here on evenings after #fieldwork, and have spent countless hours sat on this log - just minutes away - watching for #platypuses It has come full circle 🥰
I know it seems conceited to look for your own books in every bookstore you pass, but after all that goes into writing a book, there really is a sense of accomplishment when you spot them out in the world. Really thrilled to see #NaturesMemory, #PlatypusMatters & WILD all across #Tasmania & #Sydney.
October 5, 2025 at 6:36 AM
I know it seems conceited to look for your own books in every bookstore you pass, but after all that goes into writing a book, there really is a sense of accomplishment when you spot them out in the world. Really thrilled to see #NaturesMemory, #PlatypusMatters & WILD all across #Tasmania & #Sydney.
No live #platypus has ever reached the UK, but in #PlatypusMatters I share how, at the height of WW2, Churchill asked Australia to send him one. The story goes that it died of shock when its ship was attacked, but new research suggests that may not be the whole story:
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
How the mystery of Winston Churchill's dead platypus was finally solved
The platypus - a top secret gift from Australia - was found dead in his enclosure as war raged in the seas around him.
www.bbc.co.uk
August 5, 2025 at 12:22 PM
No live #platypus has ever reached the UK, but in #PlatypusMatters I share how, at the height of WW2, Churchill asked Australia to send him one. The story goes that it died of shock when its ship was attacked, but new research suggests that may not be the whole story:
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
My episode of ABC Conversations aired again today. I spoke to Richard Fidler about the wonders of the #platypus, how Europeans came to know them, and how they've been unfairly written off as weird and primitive - all stories from my #PlatypusMatters book. Listen here:
www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...
www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...
Encore: The misfit mammal that defies biological conventions - ABC listen
It was love at first sight, when Jack Ashby first set eyes upon a platypus specimen as a young university student.
The introduction set him on a lifelong mission to meet these quintessentially Austra...
www.abc.net.au
May 7, 2026 at 7:20 AM
My episode of ABC Conversations aired again today. I spoke to Richard Fidler about the wonders of the #platypus, how Europeans came to know them, and how they've been unfairly written off as weird and primitive - all stories from my #PlatypusMatters book. Listen here:
www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...
www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...
New additions to the #platypus library! I'll particularly treasure these as they're gifts from Adrian Friday - the man who first got me into #platypuses when I was a student in @camzoology.bsky.social 24 years ago, with the way he talked about this stunning freeze-dried platypus. 😍 #PlatypusMatters
May 2, 2025 at 7:32 AM
New additions to the #platypus library! I'll particularly treasure these as they're gifts from Adrian Friday - the man who first got me into #platypuses when I was a student in @camzoology.bsky.social 24 years ago, with the way he talked about this stunning freeze-dried platypus. 😍 #PlatypusMatters
The scientific establishment only accepted that some mammals *can* lay eggs when Cambridge embryologist William Caldwell - working with 150 First Nations people - found platypuses & echidnas with just-lain eggs. We rediscovered his specimens in 2022. #PlatypusMatters
www.cam.ac.uk/stories/redi...
www.cam.ac.uk/stories/redi...
150-year-old specimens that proved some mammals lay eggs
The specimens, collected in the late 1800s by the scientist William Caldwell, were discovered in the stores of Cambridge’s Museum of Zoology.
www.cam.ac.uk
July 19, 2025 at 8:18 AM
The scientific establishment only accepted that some mammals *can* lay eggs when Cambridge embryologist William Caldwell - working with 150 First Nations people - found platypuses & echidnas with just-lain eggs. We rediscovered his specimens in 2022. #PlatypusMatters
www.cam.ac.uk/stories/redi...
www.cam.ac.uk/stories/redi...
There were several meetings between Europeans and hopping #marsupials before James Cook in 1770, but none were #kangaroos. I wrote about their (terrible) descriptions in my book #PlatypusMatters, and here:
blogs.ucl.ac.uk/museums/2015...
blogs.ucl.ac.uk/museums/2015...
June 23, 2025 at 6:48 AM
There were several meetings between Europeans and hopping #marsupials before James Cook in 1770, but none were #kangaroos. I wrote about their (terrible) descriptions in my book #PlatypusMatters, and here:
blogs.ucl.ac.uk/museums/2015...
blogs.ucl.ac.uk/museums/2015...
Books like buses! It's been 3 years since #PlatypusMatters was first published, and then two new books come out at once! #NaturesMemory explores the secrets of the world's natural history #museums; and WILD encourages kids to notice how & why the same features repeatedly appear in different animals.
May 12, 2025 at 7:23 AM
Books like buses! It's been 3 years since #PlatypusMatters was first published, and then two new books come out at once! #NaturesMemory explores the secrets of the world's natural history #museums; and WILD encourages kids to notice how & why the same features repeatedly appear in different animals.
Would it be terribly lazy/egotistical of me to suggest my own book, #PlatypusMatters? 😅 (Be warned, I've also made it my life's mission - particularly through this book to get people to stop calling platypuses weird! 😉)
February 4, 2025 at 11:09 AM
Would it be terribly lazy/egotistical of me to suggest my own book, #PlatypusMatters? 😅 (Be warned, I've also made it my life's mission - particularly through this book to get people to stop calling platypuses weird! 😉)
Books make the best gifts🎁. Might I suggest these for the curious, inquisitive folk in your life:
🏛️ #NaturesMemory: Behind the Scenes at the World's Natural History #Museums.
🦘 #PlatypusMatters: The Extraordinary Story of Australian Mammals.
💯 Animal Kingdom: A Natural History in 100 Objects.
🦇 Wild
🏛️ #NaturesMemory: Behind the Scenes at the World's Natural History #Museums.
🦘 #PlatypusMatters: The Extraordinary Story of Australian Mammals.
💯 Animal Kingdom: A Natural History in 100 Objects.
🦇 Wild
December 8, 2025 at 8:02 AM
Books make the best gifts🎁. Might I suggest these for the curious, inquisitive folk in your life:
🏛️ #NaturesMemory: Behind the Scenes at the World's Natural History #Museums.
🦘 #PlatypusMatters: The Extraordinary Story of Australian Mammals.
💯 Animal Kingdom: A Natural History in 100 Objects.
🦇 Wild
🏛️ #NaturesMemory: Behind the Scenes at the World's Natural History #Museums.
🦘 #PlatypusMatters: The Extraordinary Story of Australian Mammals.
💯 Animal Kingdom: A Natural History in 100 Objects.
🦇 Wild
This #platypus is glorious, but it's been given the lazy "weird and wonderful" trope on the label. In #PlatypusMatters, I argue that #platypuses & other Aussie mammals are described this way following 200 years of pejorative colonial descriptions, as they didn't fit European expectations.
May 14, 2026 at 8:59 AM
This #platypus is glorious, but it's been given the lazy "weird and wonderful" trope on the label. In #PlatypusMatters, I argue that #platypuses & other Aussie mammals are described this way following 200 years of pejorative colonial descriptions, as they didn't fit European expectations.