AussiePOD: Aussie Picture Of the Day

Discover down under! Each day a different picture pertaining to Starfire's tour of Australia is featured, along with a brief explanation written by Australia enthusiasts.

2005 June 15

What is a duck-billed platypus?
Click on the picture to access a bonus diagram.

The platypus is a very unusual mammal:

It lays eggs like a bird or a reptile, which makes it a "monotreme." (The only other mammals to lay eggs are the platypus's direct relatives, the echidnas.)
The males have poison like a snake in spurs on their hind legs. The poison can kill a dog and cause extreme pain in people.
They have a bill like a duck.
They have a tail like a beaver.
They have webbed feet like a duck.

The platypus is about the size of a pet cat and can live about 15 years.

The name platypus is often prefixed with the adjective "duck-billed," despite there being only one species of platypus (so it's unnecessary). The correct plural of platypus is platypuses (or sometimes platypus) and not platypi, as is often heard. Australian Aborigines call the platypus by many names including mallangong, boondaburra, and tambreet.

In the late 1700s (not long after Captain Cook landed on Australia) a specimen of this mammal was exhibited in England but people thought it was a fake. Even scientists believed a prankster had sewn a duck's beak onto a mammal's body!

Tomorrow's picture: Bondi Beach

Authors & editors: Bob Bolles & Phil Bolles