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The Age
a day ago
- General
- The Age
Winston the platypus was shipped to England. Has his mystery death at sea been solved?
First, Winston's backstory. In 1943, the UK's wartime prime minister, Winston Churchill, asked Australia for a platypus to add to his menagerie of exotic pets. He was advised by his closest friend, wartime minister for information Brendan Bracken, that the Australian government had suspended its 'much-cherished law about preventing platypus[es] from leaving the country'. With a platypus set to arrive, Bracken urged Churchill to send his cat Nelson into exile. 'That pussy could (and probably would) slaughter the platypus in a few fell minutes,' Bracken wrote. And so it was that in the midst of WWII on October 2, 1943, a young and healthy platypus, named Winston for his future owner, set sail in a custom-built platypussary for England. Ewan Cowan, Holly Butler, Angela Liang and Zaki reveal that Winston's death was kept secret during the war, and document the fate of other platypuses sent abroad by sea. As part of a cross-disciplinary course, a dozen students worked for 12 weeks at the Australian Museum with its head of archives, Dr Vanessa Finney, to digitise and explore a newly acquired collection, a bequest from the naturalist, zoo owner and educator David Fleay (1907-1993). It included the ship's logbook and glass lantern slides made by Fleay, a fanatical photographer. Finney said Fleay had been a serious scientist and showman with an eye for a great story. 'Behind that was a serious intent to promote and protect Australian wildlife,' she said. Fleay had caught six puggles and chose Winston for his namesake. The young platypus was a 'little beauty' and possessed 'all the attributes of self-possession and good condition so essential to the trials ahead'. Working with Finney, the students discovered who and what was really to blame for Winston's death at sea on November 4, 1943. The students of history and philosophy of science reviewed the logbook kept by a midshipman entrusted with caring for Winston at sea. He recorded the temperature of the air, food and water several times a day, what he was fed and his condition. Sometimes Winston was fed egg custard to supplement worms and grubs. On Sunday, October 3, the log reports the animal was in good condition and eating all its food. But two days short of reaching his destination, as the students report, 'Disaster Struck'. On Saturday, November 4, the midshipman notes, 'Platypus found dead in water'. Writing to Australian prime minister John Curtin, Churchill said he 'was grieved to tell you that the platypus you kindly sent me has died. The loss is a great disappointment to me.' He wrote that the Royal College of Surgeons was anxious to have Winston's remains stuffed because another platypus had been lost in the Blitz. In correspondence between Australia and the UK, there was speculation that a depth charge by a German submarine could have killed Winston. 'With such a timid animal that only a little noise would be harmful, especially if his vitality had lowered by lessened food intake,' an official wrote. Loading By analysing the temperatures in the logbook, the students concluded that Winston was probably killed by heat stress, and exacerbated by a reduction in his food and the reverberations from an explosion. Butler said platypuses eat a lot for their size. Winston's rations had been reduced from about 700 worms a day to 600 a day because the crew feared the 50,000 worms wouldn't last the trip otherwise. Zaki said research on transporting platypuses said they shouldn't be exposed to constant temperatures above 27 degrees, yet for the week when they were crossing the equator, Winston was kept in conditions where the air and water were much higher. Platypuses mostly live in environments where the temperature is 20 degrees and below. Above 25 degrees, they can't regulate their body temperature. Above 34 degrees can be fatal for the species. 'These temperatures don't seem extreme for us humans. They're very high for platypuses,' says their report. In their online series, the students tell the full story of the story of platypus diplomacy. Cowan said platypuses were seen as very exotic from the early days of colonial settlement. 'They were considered paradoxical. Because they have a bill of a duck, they look like an otter and had a tail like a beaver.' And they lay eggs. Liang said they were so strange that scientists assumed the first specimens (taxidermied) sent overseas in the late 1790s were a hoax. 'Like a stitched-up artefact,' she said. Finney said the platypuses caused a sensation wherever they were sent. The courtship of Penelope and Cecil, the 'only two duck-billed platypuses' alive in the United States, was reported like a Mills & Boon romance by newspapers from 1947 to 1957. Loading The Herald's correspondent Ross Campbell covered their New York debut. It was attended by the Australian ambassador and a gang of media, including 20 press photographers, journalists and TV crews. At one stage, it was reported that Penelope was faking a pregnancy to get more food. The students report that Fleay said Penelope was 'shamefully maligned' – rather, she was 'always an ordinary, straightforward lady platypus'. Penelope escaped from the Bronx Zoo in 1957. The New York Times reported that far from being lovesick, Penelope was sick of Cecil.
Sydney Morning Herald
a day ago
- General
- Sydney Morning Herald
Winston the platypus was shipped to England. Has his mystery death at sea been solved?
First, Winston's backstory. In 1943, the UK's wartime prime minister, Winston Churchill, asked Australia for a platypus to add to his menagerie of exotic pets. He was advised by his closest friend, wartime minister for information Brendan Bracken, that the Australian government had suspended its 'much-cherished law about preventing platypus[es] from leaving the country'. With a platypus set to arrive, Bracken urged Churchill to send his cat Nelson into exile. 'That pussy could (and probably would) slaughter the platypus in a few fell minutes,' Bracken wrote. And so it was that in the midst of WWII on October 2, 1943, a young and healthy platypus, named Winston for his future owner, set sail in a custom-built platypussary for England. Ewan Cowan, Holly Butler, Angela Liang and Zaki reveal that Winston's death was kept secret during the war, and document the fate of other platypuses sent abroad by sea. As part of a cross-disciplinary course, a dozen students worked for 12 weeks at the Australian Museum with its head of archives, Dr Vanessa Finney, to digitise and explore a newly acquired collection, a bequest from the naturalist, zoo owner and educator David Fleay (1907-1993). It included the ship's logbook and glass lantern slides made by Fleay, a fanatical photographer. Finney said Fleay had been a serious scientist and showman with an eye for a great story. 'Behind that was a serious intent to promote and protect Australian wildlife,' she said. Fleay had caught six puggles and chose Winston for his namesake. The young platypus was a 'little beauty' and possessed 'all the attributes of self-possession and good condition so essential to the trials ahead'. Working with Finney, the students discovered who and what was really to blame for Winston's death at sea on November 4, 1943. The students of history and philosophy of science reviewed the logbook kept by a midshipman entrusted with caring for Winston at sea. He recorded the temperature of the air, food and water several times a day, what he was fed and his condition. Sometimes Winston was fed egg custard to supplement worms and grubs. On Sunday, October 3, the log reports the animal was in good condition and eating all its food. But two days short of reaching his destination, as the students report, 'Disaster Struck'. On Saturday, November 4, the midshipman notes, 'Platypus found dead in water'. Writing to Australian prime minister John Curtin, Churchill said he 'was grieved to tell you that the platypus you kindly sent me has died. The loss is a great disappointment to me.' He wrote that the Royal College of Surgeons was anxious to have Winston's remains stuffed because another platypus had been lost in the Blitz. In correspondence between Australia and the UK, there was speculation that a depth charge by a German submarine could have killed Winston. 'With such a timid animal that only a little noise would be harmful, especially if his vitality had lowered by lessened food intake,' an official wrote. Loading By analysing the temperatures in the logbook, the students concluded that Winston was probably killed by heat stress, and exacerbated by a reduction in his food and the reverberations from an explosion. Butler said platypuses eat a lot for their size. Winston's rations had been reduced from about 700 worms a day to 600 a day because the crew feared the 50,000 worms wouldn't last the trip otherwise. Zaki said research on transporting platypuses said they shouldn't be exposed to constant temperatures above 27 degrees, yet for the week when they were crossing the equator, Winston was kept in conditions where the air and water were much higher. Platypuses mostly live in environments where the temperature is 20 degrees and below. Above 25 degrees, they can't regulate their body temperature. Above 34 degrees can be fatal for the species. 'These temperatures don't seem extreme for us humans. They're very high for platypuses,' says their report. In their online series, the students tell the full story of the story of platypus diplomacy. Cowan said platypuses were seen as very exotic from the early days of colonial settlement. 'They were considered paradoxical. Because they have a bill of a duck, they look like an otter and had a tail like a beaver.' And they lay eggs. Liang said they were so strange that scientists assumed the first specimens (taxidermied) sent overseas in the late 1790s were a hoax. 'Like a stitched-up artefact,' she said. Finney said the platypuses caused a sensation wherever they were sent. The courtship of Penelope and Cecil, the 'only two duck-billed platypuses' alive in the United States, was reported like a Mills & Boon romance by newspapers from 1947 to 1957. Loading The Herald's correspondent Ross Campbell covered their New York debut. It was attended by the Australian ambassador and a gang of media, including 20 press photographers, journalists and TV crews. At one stage, it was reported that Penelope was faking a pregnancy to get more food. The students report that Fleay said Penelope was 'shamefully maligned' – rather, she was 'always an ordinary, straightforward lady platypus'. Penelope escaped from the Bronx Zoo in 1957. The New York Times reported that far from being lovesick, Penelope was sick of Cecil.
BBC News
18-06-2025
- Science
- BBC News
Artefacts suggest Australia's first people lived in mountains
A team of archaeologists have made a discovery in Australia that suggest that the continent's first people may have lived in high up in mountain found rare artefacts that dated back to the last Ice Age at a cave in Australia's Blue Mountains - which is west of have found that site known as the Dargan Shelter was lived in by early humans around 20,000 years Amy Mosig Way, who lead the study said: "Until now, we thought the Australian high country was too difficult to occupy during the last Ice Age." The study was published in the journal Nature Human Behaviour and makes the case that humans once lived above 700m in Australia - with this particular cave being 1073m above sea say the area would be been much cooler during the last Ice Age and there wouldn't have been as much vegetation as also say there wouldn't have been much firewood available at that time and sources of water would likely have been frozen during the study has raised questions about how some of the continents first people managed to adapt to the difficult conditions. Archaeologists from the Australian Museum, the University of Sydney and the Australian National University worked together with First Nations community members to unearth the artefacts during a digs at the site - they found almost of these items were prehistoric tools which researchers believe people used for cutting or is thought that most of those tools were made locally to the cave site, but not say that some seem to have come from an area around 31 miles away.
Daily Mail
17-06-2025
- Science
- Daily Mail
Shocking discovery inside one of Australia's oldest Ice Age caves dating back over 20,000 years
Archaeologists have unearthed extraordinary evidence proving one of Australia's oldest caves was occupied by humans during the Ice Age. Scientists uncovered Ice Age artefacts deep inside Dargan Shelter - a cave 1,100metres above sea level in NSW 's Blue Mountains region - challenging long-held assumptions about ancient human life in Australia. Dargan Shelter is now believed to be the oldest site at high elevation with evidence of repeated human activity and adaption to environments on the Australian continent. The cave is around 25metres high, 22metres wide and about 20metres deep. Up to 693 stone artefacts were found including stone tools and a sandstone grinding slab that may have been used for shaping wooden items or bone points for spears. The discoveries dated as far back as 20,000 years and were unearthed after the team dug more than two metres down into the frozen layers of the site. Archaeologists from the Australian Museum, the University of Sydney and the Australian National University, along with First Nations community members, led three digs between April 2022 and March 2023. Gomeroi knowledge holder and First Nations mentor in archaeology at the University of Sydney, Wayne Brennan, initiated the research project. The discovery proved First Nations ancestors navigated and occupied high-altitude environments during the Ice Age, Mr Brennan and Australian Museum Archeologist and lead author of the research paper Dr Amy Mosig Way, said. 'Until now, we thought the Australian high country was too difficult to occupy during the last Ice Age,' Dr Way wrote in a newsletter for the University of Sydney. 'Yet, despite the harsh conditions, our research demonstrates people were moving in and through this high elevation landscape, which is approximately 400metres above the tree line.' The artefacts had been kept in an 'excellent state of preservation', with the team measuring the pieces against the date of charcoal from old firepits buried at the same level to estimate the age of each item. With this method, the scientists were able to determine the sandstone grinding slab, which had linear grooves, had been used more than 13,000 years ago. Researchers also found a stone believed to have been used as an axe. Analysis proved the piece of basalt was used to crack open hard seeds or nuts dating back to about 9,000 years ago. First Nations custodians and proud Dharug women, Leanne Watson Redpath and Erin Wilkins said the discovery symbolised a tangible connection to their ancestors. Ms Wilkins said while there was no way of identifying which groups accessed the site during the Ice Age, it was likely multiple groups frequented the cave. She added local custodians consider the Dargan Shelter as representing a family space with 'high cultural significance'. Mr Brennan said he hoped the discovery would help protect First Nations people's cultural heritage. 'The Blue Mountains is a UNESCO World Heritage listed site for the protection of flora and fauna but there are no safeguards for our cultural heritage, he said. 'We hope that by combining our traditional knowledge with scientific research, we can protect these invaluable storehouses of our history for generations to come.'
ABC News
16-06-2025
- Science
- ABC News
Inside Dargan Shelter, the Blue Mountains cave home to artefacts linked to the Ice Age
The terrain in the upper Blue Mountains is impassable in sections. It's where eucalypts climb high and scribbly gums, banksia and wattles thrive. Survival in this environment today would be tough — which makes a recent archaeological discovery all the more extraordinary. Scientists have uncovered Ice Age artefacts deep inside a cave 1,100 metres above sea level, challenging long-held assumptions about ancient human life in Australia. The discoveries, dated to as far back as 20,000 years, were found in a cave known as Dargan Shelter — now believed to be the oldest known site of human activity at high elevation on the Australian continent. The Dargan Shelter is located in the upper-Blue Mountains, west of Sydney. ( ABC News: Michael Nudl ) The terrain near the cave is difficult to traverse. ( ABC News: Michael Nudl ) The upper-Blue Mountains near the location of the cave. ( ABC News: Tom Hartley ) Dr Amy Way and colleagues during one of the digs in the Dargan Shelter. ( Supplied: Meagan Warwick/Australian Museum ) The team involved in the discovery of the artefacts in Dargan Shelter. ( Supplied: Meagan Warwick/Australian Museum ) The shelter is around 25 metres high, 22 metres wide and 20 metres deep. "We have the full sequence of occupation, right from when people started using it, from the last Ice Age or possibly even before that," Dr Amy Way, an Australian Museum archaeologist, told 7.30. Members of the archaeology team inside Dargan Shelter. ( ABC News: Tom Hartley ) "It's a phenomenal cave in that you can absolutely see why people have been drawn to this space for thousands of years," she said. "What makes it really significant archaeologically is actually what's beneath our feet." The archaeologists discovered hundreds of artefacts during the digs. ( Supplied: Meagan Warwick/Australian Museum ) Over three digs between April 2022 and March 2023, where they dug down more than two metres, Dr Way and her team uncovered hundreds of ancient artefacts and items of cultural significance. The evidence, they say, provides definitive proof of repeated occupation in this once frozen high-altitude landscape. "The oldest object we found was around 20,000 years old," she said. What was it like in the Ice Age? An artwork by Leanne Redpath Wilkins imagining what Dargan Shelter looked like in the Ice Age. ( Supplied: Australian Museum ) Gomeroi man Wayne Brennan thinks the climate and terrain conditions would have been "extremely tough" this high up during the Ice Age, during a period called the Pleistocene. Scientists believe the average temperature would have been 8 degrees Celsius cooler than it is today, and even more frigid during the winter months. "It would have been a lot harsher around here," Mr Brennan told 7.30. "The treeline would've been a lot lower, and while there would've been some shrubs, you'd be fighting for firewood." The view from the cave. ( ABC News: Tom Hartley ) The evidence from the Dargan Shelter site also challenges the previous assumption that people just quickly crossed the Great Dividing Range, which includes the Blue Mountains, rather than spending time and settling in the mountains. "What the artefacts tell us here is that there's a really big pulse of activity in that 18,000-year period," Dr Way said. "This isn't just people running from one side to the other." Dr Way told 7.30 that some stone artefacts originated from more than 100 kilometres away. Dr Amy Way and a colleague during one of the digs in Dargan Shelter. ( Supplied: Meagan Warwrick/Australian Museum ) "Some had come in from the Hunter Valley and some from Jenolan ... to the north and south," she said. "They're here, they're spending time, they're connected along the mountains." Significant finds The team used carbon dating to estimate the age of each object by measuring the date of charcoal from old fire-pits buried at the same depth. Amy Way and Wayne Brennan inspect one of the artefacts in Dargan Shelter. ( ABC News: Tom Hartley ) Two of the more significant artefacts to have been found are what is believed to be a sandstone grinding slab bearing linear grooves. It is estimated to have been used more than 13,000 years ago. "Those grooves were made when a person was sharpening either a bone or a piece of wood, and sharpening it into a point," Dr Way hypothesised. "They could have been making a needle for sewing, which is quite likely considering how cold it was up here." Another stone that piqued their interest was a piece of basalt that had been split and shaped, initially leading researchers to think it was an axe. Further analysis showed it had been used for cracking open hard seeds or nuts around 9,000 years ago. A stone tool thought to have been used to crack open seeds and nuts. ( ABC News: Tom Hartley ) "This is people sitting around having a feed, cracking open some nuts for a snack," Dr Way said. "And the nuts, of course, haven't survived but because they made an impact mark on this stone, we can reconstruct what they were doing." Protecting a sacred site Looking out the mouth of a cave. ( ABC News: Tom Hartley ) Mr Brennan suggested the excavation was akin to "shaking hands with the past". "We think Dargan Shelter was a stopover point for family groups on their way to ceremony or on their way back," he said "The mountains weren't a barrier and I think that's the exciting part. "Just to think our ancestors were coming up here and doing things around that period of time — it would've been tough, but that shows the obligation we have to country." Wayne Brennan believes the cave was a place where families stopped over while travelling. ( ABC News: Tom Hartley ) Mr Brennan is a First Nations knowledge holder who was one of the authors of the research as an archaeology student at the University of Sydney. "The Blue Mountains is a UNESCO World Heritage-listed site for the protection of flora and fauna, but there are no safeguards for our cultural heritage," he said. "We hope that by combining our traditional knowledge with scientific research, we can protect these invaluable storehouses of our history for generations to come." 'Significant place' Mr Brennan said the discoveries proved Dargan Shelter is on a "dreaming track". "It's a songline track that brought in a lot of different mobs from up north, west, east and south," he said. Erin Wilkins says walking into the cave "takes your breath away". ( ABC News: Tom Hartley ) While there's no certain way of identifying which groups accessed the mountains in the deep past, it is likely that multiple groups were connected to this country. Today Wiradjuri, Gomeroi, Darkinjung, Dharawal, Wonnarua, Gundungara and other groups hold traditional connections to the region. Direct custodians say it's a "magical" place. "Coming into this shelter is like nothing you've ever done before — it takes your breath away and it's very settling for your soul, for your spirit as well," said Dharug woman Erin Wilkins, a First Nations knowledge holder who was also an author of the research. The ceiling of the cave is about 25m high.. ( ABC News: Tom Hartley ) "To know my ancestors and many, many ancestors and many people have come through, sat in the same sand, in the same soil, in the same surrounds for thousands and thousands years, it gives us a lot more clarity, a lot more information. "It connects our stories, but it's healing for her, it's healing for mother, that we're back here." Watch 7.30, Mondays to Thursdays 7:30pm on ABC iview and ABC TV
