Ornithorhynchology (PLATYPUSES) with Tahneal Hawke
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Oh, hey, it's the coffee shop guy who is happy to heat up your muffin, Allie Ward. And though we can't all be in Australia right now, we are all here for platypuses. What is with this ology, you ask me, horrified by the amount of letters? Well, ornithorhynchus in Greek means That word, that portmanteau of words, means bird-like. And the species we're going to be chatting about, Anatinus, means duck-like. So these critters' names literally translate to bird-like, duck-like. Although there was this outmoded species named Paradoxus, which just means unexpected or Platypus itself, that word means big flat feet. We're going to talk about those too, as well as this other just constellation of confusions that is the platypus.
But first, thank you so much to patrons of the show who make it happen by joining for as little as a dollar a month. Thank you to everyone checking out Smologies, our shorter kid-friendly episodes. You can subscribe to wherever you get podcasts.
What makes the platypus so anatomically weird and what do its scientific names mean?
Those are linked in the show notes. Thanks to everyone finding each other in the wild in your Ologies merch from ologiesmerch.com. And thanks, as always, to people who review the show. I read them all. They help so much. To prove it, here's a wet one from Jordan D. Friend, who wrote that, Ologies is like the best comfort food and a warm hug combined. Jordan D. Friend, I'm embracing some bread pudding in return. And on to this week's guests who got their PhD in biological sciences with a focus on impacts of river regulation on platypus population dynamics from Sydney's University of New South Wales, where they are now a joint senior research associate, as well as at Taronga Conservation Society. They have nearly a decade in monitoring wild platypus populations.
They've worked with nearly 500 wild ones. publishing numerous papers on these animals, including Field Anesthesia for Platypuses, A Proven Method and the Case for Non-Veterinarian Accreditation Pathways in the journal Australian Mammalogy. They let me ask so many befuddled questions on mine and your behalf. So say goodbye to small talk about the weather. forever, because this single episode of Ologies will give you icebreakers for the rest of your life as we touch on their fur, their face, their butts, their tails, their evolution, their conservation, how to spot a platypus, why you shouldn't have one in your bathtub, fieldwork down under, platypuses and espionage, milk, eggs, hoaxes, and a lot of soft, stunned gasps.
with biologist, conservationist, scholar, professor, and ornitho-rheumatologist, Dr. Tenille Hawk.
Tenille Hawk, my pronouns are she, her.
Okay, first things first, platypuses, platypi, what's the deal?
So platypuses, technically platypodes, but that's not really widely used. The reason is because it's actually Greek origin. So if it was Latin origin, it would be platypi. But because it's Greek origin, we generally go with platypuses.
Okay, that makes sense. And it solves the most burning question in a lot of people's minds.
That is, I would say, my most asked question.
Okay, good. We got it right off the top. Well, it's been great talking to you. And I hope you have a great rest of your day. And that's it. That's all I got. What about species? Are there a lot of them or just one?
Just one species of platypus right across their range, which is like pretty unique. We're kind of looking into the genetics a bit and there's kind of a bit of a difference, you know, across east to west, but not enough to even be a subspecies. So just one species. Yeah.
Are they slightly different sizes or something or do they just have different vibes?
A bit of a different size. So platypuses in Australia, they extend from kind of up north in Cairns in Queensland all the way down to Tasmania. So right along the east coast of Australia. So if you're up north, you'll find that the platypuses are much smaller. But when you come down to Tassie, they're starting to get pretty big. Like a male will be around three kilos. So there's quite a size difference.
Six and a half pounds.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–0:58
2
What makes the platypus so anatomically weird and what do its scientific names mean?
0:58–14:58
3
How many platypus species exist and where are they found?
14:58–35:58
4
How do platypuses find and eat prey underwater without using sight?
35:58–55:07
5
How do platypuses reproduce: eggs, milk, burrows and baby ‘puggles’?
55:07–1:09:27
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from Ologies with Alie Ward
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