Īll content, layout and design in this websiteĪre protected by copyright 1998-2017 John Chambers.From top to tail, platypuses (or platypodes) can be 60cm long. One possible name recently suggested is a "platapup" There is no accepted term - equivalent to pup or cub - to describe a baby platypus. (We use the former for the sake of simplicity.) The term "platypi" is no longer considered to be valid. The preferred plural of platypus is either "platypus" or "platypuses", depending on which dictionary you consult. The official scientific name became and remains Ornithorhynchus anatinus, with the first word meaning "bird-like snout".Īlthough the name "duckbill" was widely used as a popular description for the animal, the abandoned scientific name "platypus" gradually became the accepted common name for the species. However, when it became known that Platypus had already been used to name a group of beetles, a new term had to be adopted. Prior to the arrival of European settlers, Aboriginal people had many different names for the animal, including "boondaburra", "mallingong" and "tambreet".ĭr Shaw, in his scientific description of 1799, gave the name Platypus anatinus, from Greek and Latin words meaning "flat-footed, duck-like". He even took a pair of scissors to the pelt, expecting to find stitches attaching the bill to the skin.Įarly British colonists in Australia called the platypus a "water mole". His initial reaction to this original specimen was that it was an elaborate hoax. In 1799, the platypus was first described by a British scientist, Dr George Shaw. Scientific recognition Return to Platypus Page
The duck's offspring had their mother's bill and webbed feet and their father's four legs and handsome brown fur. The platypus is sometimes described as a "living fossil" because of this ancient lineage and its combination of mammalian and reptilian features.Īboriginal legend Return to Platypus PageĪccording to Aboriginal legend, the first platypus were born after a young female duck mated with a lonely and persuasive water-rat. The earliest known remains of the platypus in its current form ( Ornithorhynchus anatinus ) date back to around 100,000 years ago. ) has been dated to about 4.5 million years ago. A ) have been found in Australian sediments deposited between 25 and 15 million years ago, while a leg bone from the first close relative of the modern platypus ( Ornithorhynchus sp. The tooth was found in sediments deposited over 60 million years ago, at the time when Australia and South America were still joined as part of the southern supercontinent Gondwana.įossils belonging to three other extinct platypus species ( Obdurodon insignis, Obdurodon dicksoni, and Obdurodon sp. In 1991, a fossil tooth belonging to a different kind of ancient platypus (originally described as Monotrematum sudamericanum but now probably regarded as another Obdurodon species) was discovered in the Patagonian desert of Argentina. The Fossil Record Return to Platypus Pageīased on a fragment of lower jaw found in opal deposits at Lightning Ridge in New South Wales, a type of ancestral platypus ( Steropodon galmani ) existed alongside the dinosaurs about 110 million years ago. Ĭ ourtesy of: The Australian Platypus Conservancy ! Platypus History ! Tropical Rainforest, North Queensland, Australia
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