On the Trail of the Jackalope On the Trail of the Jackalope

On the Trail of the Jackalope

How a Legend Captured the World's Imagination and Helped Us Cure Cancer

    • $14.99
    • $14.99

Publisher Description

The never-before-told story of the horned rabbit—the myths, the hoaxes, and the entirely real scientific breakthroughs it has inspired—and how it became a cultural touchstone of the American West.

Just what is a jackalope? Purported to be part jackrabbit and part antelope, the jackalope began as a local joke concocted by two young brothers in a small Wyoming town during the Great Depression. Their creation quickly spread around the U.S., where it now regularly appears as innumerable forms of kitsch—wall mounts, postcards, keychains, coffee mugs, shot glasses, and so on. A vast body of folk narratives has carried the jackalope’s fame around the world to inspire art, music, film, even erotica! 
 
Although the jackalope is an invention of the imagination, it is nevertheless connected to actual horned rabbits, which exist in nature and have for centuries been collected and studied by naturalists. Around the time the two young boys were creating the first jackalope in Wyoming, Dr. Richard Shope was making his first breakthrough about the cause of the horns: a virus. When the virus that causes rabbits to grow “horns” (a keratinous carcinoma) was first genetically sequenced in 1984, oncologists were able to use that genetic information to make remarkable, field-changing advances in the development of anti-viral cancer therapies. The most important of these is the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, which protects against cervical and other cancers. Today, jackalopes are literally helping us cure cancer.
 
For fans of David Quammen’s The Song of the Dodo, Jon Mooallem’s Wild Ones, or Jeff Meldrum's Sasquatch, Michael P. Branch's remarkable On the Trail of the Jackalope is an entertaining and enlightening road trip through the heart of America.

GENRE
Science & Nature
RELEASED
2022
March 1
LANGUAGE
EN
English
LENGTH
304
Pages
PUBLISHER
Pegasus Books
SELLER
Simon & Schuster Digital Sales LLC
SIZE
15.5
MB

More Books Like This

The Boilerplate Rhino The Boilerplate Rhino
2012
Wild Thoughts from Wild Places Wild Thoughts from Wild Places
2012
A Most Remarkable Creature A Most Remarkable Creature
2021
Swimming with Piranhas at Feeding Time: My Life Doing Dumb Stuff with Animals Swimming with Piranhas at Feeding Time: My Life Doing Dumb Stuff with Animals
2010
Natural Acts: A Sidelong View of Science and Nature Natural Acts: A Sidelong View of Science and Nature
2009
Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law
2021

More Books by Michael P. Branch

Raising Wild Raising Wild
2016
Rants from the Hill Rants from the Hill
2017
How to Cuss in Western How to Cuss in Western
2018
The Best Read Naturalist" The Best Read Naturalist"
2017
John Muir's Last Journey: South To The Amazon And East To Africa John Muir's Last Journey: South To The Amazon And East To Africa
2013

Customers Also Bought