Try free for 30 days

  • Platypus Matters

  • The Extraordinary Story of Australian Mammals
  • By: Jack Ashby
  • Narrated by: Elliot Fitzpatrick
  • Length: 11 hrs and 33 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (13 ratings)

1 credit a month to use on any title, yours to keep (you’ll use your first credit on this title).
Stream or download thousands of included titles.
Access to exclusive deals and discounts.
$16.45 a month after 30 day trial. Cancel anytime.
Platypus Matters cover art

Platypus Matters

By: Jack Ashby
Narrated by: Elliot Fitzpatrick
Try for $0.00

$16.45 per month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $25.82

Buy Now for $25.82

Pay using voucher balance (if applicable) then card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions Of Use and Privacy Notice and authorise Audible to charge your designated credit card or another available credit card on file.

Publisher's Summary

Winner of the Whitley Award for Best Natural History Book 2022

A compelling, funny, first-hand account of Australia's wonderfully unique mammals and how our perceptions impact their future.

Think of a platypus: they lay eggs (that hatch into so-called platypups), they produce milk without nipples and venom without fangs and they can detect electricity. Or a wombat: their teeth never stop growing, they poo cubes and they defend themselves with reinforced rears. Platypuses, possums, wombats, echidnas, devils, kangaroos, quolls, dibblers, dunnarts, kowaris: Australia has some truly astonishing mammals with incredible, unfamiliar features. But how does the world regard these creatures? And what does that mean for their conservation?

In Platypus Matters, naturalist Jack Ashby shares his love for these often-misunderstood animals. Informed by his own experiences meeting living marsupials and egg-laying mammals on fieldwork in Tasmania and mainland Australia, as well as his work with thousands of zoological specimens collected for museums over the last 200-plus years, Ashby's tale not only explains the extraordinary lives of these animals, but the historical mysteries surrounding them and the myths that persist (especially about the platypus). He also reveals the toll these myths can take.

Ashby makes it 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 anywhere on Earth. Important, timely and written with humour 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.

©2022 Jack Ashby (P)2022 HarperCollins Publishers

What listeners say about Platypus Matters

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    9
  • 4 Stars
    3
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    7
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    7
  • 4 Stars
    3
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    1

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Platypus and Australian mammals

This is a great book! I had no idea of the history behind how Australian wildlife and marsupials were depicted and why that has influenced us today. There’s a lot on platypus but a lot on others species too. A great book, highly recommend!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Amazing stories of Australian animals!

Great book. So many interesting facts about Australian wildlife and their history! Loved everything about it!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Platypus Matters

Very interesting and informative
A look into the historical events of colonialism and its effects on the native flora and fauna
I loved how when the first invaders first saw a platypus they were perplexed
The first time I saw a Rakali I was in awe and to hear them described was delightful ( albeit short)

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Colonial rendition of Australian fauna misses the mark

Jack Ashby attempts to convince the reader that he is the authority on Australia’s fauna instead he provides little insight into the unique animal assemblage that inhabits the country. He all but ignores the contributions of the American Indonesia, PNG and the Solomon Islands marsupial fauna. No detailed mentions of fossil marsupial in china, Canada or Europe or the distribution models to arrive in Australia. Did I fall asleep when he mentioned monito del monte or did he just leave this important information out. Wanders into irrelevant commentary on Australia’s society and shows little knowledge of indigenous Australians. Peddles Bruce Pascoes work as fact when this has long ago been disputed (see Sutton & Walsh). Watch out America. He’s coming for you next.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.