Platypus (Ornithorhynchus paradoxus), or more commonly known as the platypus. Illustration from Meyers Konversations-Lexikon, 1897 • ISTOCKPHOTO When the first Europeans settled in Australia at the end of the 18 th century, they are amazed by the wildlife inhabiting the continent. The animals that mark the most spirits are the kangaroo, the koala and the wallaby, large marsupials that do not resemble any other species known until now. But the most amazing creature is the platypus:“It is an amphibian animal similar to a mole, but much larger. His eyes are small. It has membranes on its legs and a thick, short tail. But the most extraordinary thing is that instead of the mandible, it has a duck's beak. This description made by David Collins, governor of the colony of New South Wales, clearly demonstrates the astonishment felt before an animal that did not fit into any box of zoology at the time. The platypus is known as boondaburra , mallangong , tambreet or dulaiwarrung among different indigenous peoples. There is a curious legend about him reported by Aboriginal oral tradition. A pretty duck named Daroo, disobedient to the old ducks, ventures out of her pond and is kidnapped by Bilargun, the evil water rat who forces her to have relations with him. Pregnant, Daroo manages to escape and returns to her pond. After a few weeks, she lays eggs, from which hatch young with beaks and webbed feet like their mother, but with hairs and a poisonous sting on their hind legs, like their father. They are the first platypus. Could that be a trick? In 1798, John Hunter, governor of the colony and amateur naturalist, was the first European to observe a living specimen of a platypus in Yarramundi Lagoon, near Sydney, while accompanying an Aboriginal hunter. Struck by its appearance, Hunter made a detailed drawing of the animal and sent the skin of a hunted specimen to London, which was examined by George Shaw, curator at the British Museum. Seeing the animal, Shaw is so bewildered that the first thing that comes to mind is that it is a trick. It would not be the first:at that time, many mummified bodies of mermaids circulate, which are really only primates to which skilful Chinese taxidermists have added fish tails. Thus, Shaw thinks that the Australian skin simply belongs to a water rat to which duck ends have been sewn. He writes:“Of all known mammals, this last is the most extraordinary in appearance. It features a duck's beak grafted onto the head of a quadruped. At first glance, this looks like a fallacious elaboration. But upon closer examination, he cannot find the seams that would prove the deception and eventually realizes that it is a real animal. The definitive term chosen for the creature is "Ornithorhynchus anatinus". Shaw names this creature Platypus anatinus , "flat-footed duck". But the term Platypus is already used to describe a species of beetle. In 1800, the German anatomist Johann Friedrich Blumenbach proposed the name Ornithorhynchus paradoxus , "paradoxical bird's beak". The final name chosen was Ornithorhynchus anatinus , combining the two classifications. The term platypus is the common name of the species used in the Anglo-Saxon world, while the Latin languages opt for the term platypus. The order of monotremes The platypus is classified in a new order, that of the "monotremes" (literally "single orifice"). The latter includes small mammals endemic to Australia such as echidnas (small insectivores similar to hedgehogs), which have retained characteristics inherited from their reptile ancestors. The term monotreme refers to an unusual feature of these mammals:the confluence of the digestive, excretory and reproductive systems in the animal's cloaca. To this day, the platypus is still one of the most amazing animals on the planet. His discovery revolutionized the natural sciences and demonstrated that sometimes the biggest surprises come in the smallest packages.
