Chasing Kangaroos: A Continent, a Scientist, and a Search for the World's Most Extraordinary Creature - Hardcover

This paean to a remarkable animal by Flannery, author of the well-received global warming treatise The Weather Makers, is fascinating but scattershot. The kangaroo, the only large animal that hops, can travel at speeds of 15–40 kilometers per hour. Female kangaroos, who carry their young in pouches, have two vaginas, but don't give birth through either of them, and are always pregnant, because they mate a few hours after their young are born. There are 70-odd species of kangaroo: some drink salt water; others live in trees. But as a paleontologist, Flannery is obsessed with finding out when and where the first kangaroos lived. Much of the book is about his searches for the fossils of extinct species in remote areas of the Australian outback, where he discovered the remains of "the grandfather of all kangaroos," as well as the fossils of ice age giants, such as the short-faced kangaroo and a carnivorous kangaroo. The accounts of his discoveries are engaging, but he covers too much ground, switching back and forth between physical descriptions, kangaroo evolution, reminiscences of his fossil hunting travels, worries about Australia's environment and the aborigines, and his controversial extinction theories. B&w and color illus. not seen by PW. (July)
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Those who've had trouble sleeping since reading Flannery's book about global warming (The Weather Makers, 2006) may be surprised to learn that his true passion is not doomsday scenarios--it's kangaroos. Although these fascinating animals are practically synonymous with Australia, as a budding paleontologist, Flannery was shocked at the gaps in scientific knowledge about them, and he has been trying to fill those gaps ever since. Written with both earthy humor and scientific precision, this book is almost as unique its subject. It's part memoir and travelogue (it begins with his youthful attempt to circumnavigate Australia by motorcycle), part natural history (it's loaded with information about the changes wrought by nature and man), and part scientific clue hunt (his attempts to solve the puzzle of the 'roo's origins are hampered by gaps in the geological record). Readers who start out thinking that Flannery's mania for marsupials is a bit nerdy will soon envy his passion so much that they'll feel like they're the real nerds themselves. This delightful journey of discovery will appeal to fans of Bill Bryson and Mark Kurlansky. Keir Graff
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