Chasing Kangaroos : A continent, a scientist, and a search for the world's most extraordinary creature


Citation
Flannery, Tim. Chasing kangaroos : A continent, a scientist, and a search for the world's most extraordinary creature.  2007

Annotation
In this combination of memoir, travel, natural history, adventure and evolutionary science, Flannery draws on over 30 years of research and field work to craft a loving tribute to his native land and one of its unique and beloved inhabitants, the kangaroo.
Much of the book is about his travels throughout the Australian continent searching for the fossils of extinct species in remote areas of the Australian outback, where he discovers the fossils of ice age giants, such as the short faced kangaroo and a carnivorous kangaroo.
The accounts are fascinating switching from physical descriptions, to Kangaroo evolution then to reminiscences of his fossil hunting travels, also concerns for the Australian environment and the aborigines.
Flannery personalizes his scientific account with entertaining tales of journeys through deserts and rainforests and encounters with eccentric scientists and native aborigines.
This is a combination of earthly humour, travelogue ( it begins with his youthful attempt to go around Australia on a motorcycle) , natural history, (full of information about the changes brought on by nature and man ), and a  passionate scientific journey to solve the 'roo's origins.