The poor Platypus.....
By Erilyn
@Erilyn (3020)
United States
November 14, 2008 2:49pm CST
The Platypus has to be the strangest of all of God's creatures. The poor things were put together with what must have been parts left over from all the other animals. The poor babies!!From Wikipedia:
[i]When the Platypus was first discovered by Europeans in 1798, a pelt and sketch were sent back to the United Kingdom by Captain John Hunter, the second Governor of New South Wales.[4] The British scientists were at first convinced that the attributes must have been a hoax.[3] George Shaw, who produced the first description of the animal in the Naturalist's Miscellany in 1799, stated that it was impossible not to entertain doubts as to its genuine nature, and Robert Knox believed it may have been produced by some Asian taxidermist.[5] It was thought that somebody had sewn a duck's beak onto the body of a beaver-like animal. Shaw even took a pair of scissors to the dried skin to check for stitches.[3]The common name, Platypus, is Latin derived from the Greek words p?at?? ("platys", flat, broad) and p??? ("pous", foot), meaning "flat foot".[6] Shaw assigned it as a Linnaean genus name when he initially described it, but the term was quickly discovered to already belong to the wood-boring ambrosia beetle (genus Platypus).[7] It was independently described as Ornithorhynchus paradoxus by Johann Blumenbach in 1800 (from a specimen given to him by Sir Joseph Banks)[8] and following the rules of priority of nomenclature it was later officially recognised as Ornithorhynchus anatinus.[7] The scientific name Ornithorhynchus is derived from ???????????? ("ornithorhynkhos"), which literally means "bird snout" in Greek, and anatinus, which means "duck-like" in Latin.
There is no universally agreed upon plural of "platypus" in the English language. Scientists generally use "platypuses" or simply "platypus". Colloquially, "platypi" is also used for the plural, although this is pseudo-Latin;[3] the Greek plural would be "platypodes". Early British settlers called it by many names, such as watermole, duckbill, and duckmole.[3] The name "Platypus" is often prefixed with the adjective "duck-billed" to form Duck-billed Platypus, despite there being only one species of Platypus.[9][/i]
How would you Feel if you were known as paradoxus as part of your species name? We should all show some love and support for our poor frankenstien like creatures!
1 person likes this
3 responses
@oscarbartoni (2581)
• United States
19 Nov 08
Another interesting fact is that they are one of only two mammals that lay eggs.Yes they are mammals but they lay eggs like birds do. They also live in dens that they dig in the banks of the water that they live in. And they are one of only two mammals that are poisonous . And I am not taking about biting but rather poison coming out of glands on their legs. The other mammal that has poison is the shrew.
@1grnthmb (2055)
• United States
15 Nov 08
You are right that this has to be the strangest creature to exist. It is sad that they had to include paradox as part of its name. It just makes the animal seem even more out of place. Love and honer the poor platypus. He is so miss understood.
1 person likes this