'Roos, Pythons, and Tapeworms: Tales from Down Under

By William J. Cromie

Gazette Staff

Timothy Flannery has all the academic credentials you'd expect of a visiting professor. His curriculum vitae includes lists of journal articles, books, grants, awards, fellowships, and honorary appointments. But there's much more: the discovery of a black-and-white tree kangaroo and of large, extinct mammals from the last ice age, a tapeworm named after him, a fine sense of humor, and some of the best stories you'll ever hear about animals and people in New Guinea and Australia.

There was the time he wrestled a 10-foot-long python, the occasion when some natives in a remote village decided to kill him (see sidebars), stories about being bitten by more insects than most people can name, and about surviving typhus, malaria, and severe amoebic dysentery.

In a way, you might say he's a temporary gift to Harvard. Twenty-two years ago, the Australian government gave the University a contribution to celebrate the nation's bicentennial: an endowed program known as the Visiting Professorship of Australian Studies. Almost every year since, the Committee on Australian Studies has brought in scholars specializing in fields ranging from art to politics, anthropology to economics. Flannery, 42, is the first biologist.

Asked what he'll be doing in the coming year, Flannery answered, "I'm trying to understand North America." He held up a book he is reading, The Geology of North America.

"I want to know about the determinants of life here; why the animals and trees are different than in Australia. I'd also like to get some insights into North American society and culture, both indigenous and nonindigenous."

Kangaroos and Tapeworms

Flannery admits that's a tall order. He did much the same thing in New Guinea and it took the better part of 17 years.

After what he calls a "Catholic-school upbringing in Melbourne," Flannery earned an undergraduate degree in English literature. But an admitted "lack of enthusiasm for high school teaching" together with a 1970s' mining boom in Australia turned him to geology. He was more interested in mammals and evolution than in rocks, and that led to an invitation to do a Ph.D. in biological sciences at the University of New South Wales in Sydney.

By this time, Flannery had developed a keen interest in New Guinea. "There were remote mountains where no one had ever done mammal work before. It was an opportunity to do some pioneering research that I couldn't resist."

Roaming the mountains and jungles of New Guinea, Flannery discovered four new varieties of tree kangaroo. One was a strange black-and-white species about the size of a collie. "It's a beautiful thing, and no biologist had ever seen one before."

Flannery named the new kangaroo species Dendrolagus mbaiso. He later had another exotic creature named in his honor.

"There was this local bloke, and every time someone caught an opossum he would rush to help prepare it for roasting. Using his fingers, he'd feel for, then remove from the animal's gut a horrible yellow tapeworm, which he ate straightaway."

Flannery sent some of the tapeworms to a parasitologist in Melbourne. About a year later, the scientist wrote him to say, "Thanks for the unusual, edible tapeworm. It's new to science, and I've taken the opportunity to name it after you." The beast goes down into biological history as Burtiella flanneryi.

His wanderings through New Guinea also took Flannery tens of thousands of years back in time. He and some colleagues became the first scientists to find the remains of large animals that roamed the island during the last ice age, 10,000 to 4 million years ago. Woolly mammoths and mastodons were roaming North America then, and Australia and New Guinea were connected by a land bridge.

"The fossils we found belong to giant, extinct marsupials [animals that carry their young in a pouch]. They include huge kangaroos, and wombatlike creatures the size of grizzly bears."

The Australian press calls him the "Indiana Jones of Australian science," to which Flannery responds, "I've heard about him but I've never seen an Indiana Jones movie. I suppose I should go and see one; I like comedy."

Throwim Way Leg

Flannery has written eight books, four of which have won either scientific or literary awards. His latest is Throwim Way Leg (pidgin for "taking a journey"). The book reads like the man himself -- witty, fast-paced, and irreverent. It will be published in this country in January 1999 by Atlantic Monthly Press. Its subtitle is "Tree-Kangaroos, Possums, and Penis Gourds: On the Track of Unknown Animals in Wildest New Guinea." The part about penis gourds provides a rare look into the culture of New Guinea, but it's not fit for all readers.

Flannery is now principal research scientist (mammalogy) at the Australian Museum in Sydney. When invited to apply for a visiting professorship at Harvard, he "jumped at the chance."

So far, he likes what he sees. "The thing that gets you about this place is the resources -- the libraries, the museums. The material that's available is fantastic."

As far as people go, Flannery said, "It takes them a while to warm up, but once they do they seem to be all right."

Flannery lives in Mather House with his wife, Alexandra. "I've got a penthouse suite with a view of the Charles River. It's quite nice." He has a son, David, 14, and a daughter, Emma, 12, by a previous marriage.

This term, Flannery is giving and going to seminars, and preparing to teach a course on evolution next term. He admires the flexible teaching methods and the kinds of courses available here. "Things are more rigid and limited in Australia."

Flannery regards Harvard students as "incredibly bright and well-behaved." He's surprised that they can't drink until age 21. "I grew up in a society where I had a beer at my father's knee. That way, I learned to drink in moderation."