If we consider on a basis, e.g - each household on each street, lane, road, strasse, weg is different. Instead we can and should be aware of the diversity closer to home, in fact it is all around us. This blog post albeit it focuses on an academic state of flux caused by a creature what is different to anything known to man at that time, and it still can be said now, inspires the write to think about diversity. My motivation for this post was to reflect on diversity, as opposed to for example to travel to Australia or to other far flung places to experience diversity. He later opines - 'as other animals smaller than the platypus were replaced by other species deemed more successful, thus could a platypus be deemed to be a living fossil?' Later Darwin's drew a 'Tree of Life' - tracing species back to their common ancestors. What he stumbles on is the interconnectivity of life itself - Darwin believed a platypus, as a transitionary animal, due to this creature laying eggs. Darwin goes onto to write in his diaries "maybe there were two creators at work". He later writes, "Why would god make two creatures one in England, and one in Australia, for the same purpose, but with different features. It transpires Darwin was based west of the Blue Mountains (New South Wales - Australia), and was staying with a landowner, who had shot a platypus for Darwin to study. Whilst examining his find, he reflected on another animal known as the Water Rat found in the UK, which too was a mammal, and fed on the same creatures, however resembled nothing akin to the humble platypus. The Platypus' name and initial Latin/Greek translation " Ornithorhynchus paradoxus" - the word paradox meant really the scientific brains of the day had no idea about the origin of this little creature.
The platypus has the beck and webbed feet similar of a duck, and a tail that resembled that of a beaver, and even though the platypus is a mammal, it lays eggs like a reptile. One area of focus was his theory of Evolution, and again mysterious mammal the platypus, occurs in great detail within his theories.
Why would his initial calling to the Church and then his later conversion to academia cause him concern? A possible answer is the very question of the humble Platypus itself!Īs a christian he faced a conflict from the teachings, and the interpretation of the Christian Bible along side the theories he was later to write during his academic life. Darwin was a christian, and even became an Anglican clergyman. Many of Darwin's theories can be said to have relied on "chance". I have posted a couple of links with differing views to quantify how this creature came into being - Platypus and Wiki's - Platypus. I am still amazed as to quiet how this unique mammal appears to baffle scientist back then and as much the same today as to how the the Platypus came to be. Having never seen a Platypus albeit, I made several attempts to find and see this mysterious and mystical creature.