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English
Image:Platypus.jpg|thumb|A platypus
Etymology
From Modern Latin Platypus (originally a genus name, but already used for a type of beetle), from Greek �λα���ο�� �flat-footed�, from �λα��� �flat� + �ο�� �foot�.

Noun
platypus (plural: platypuses, platypi or platypus; rare, pedantic: platypodes)

1. An egg-laying, semiaquatic mammal with a bill resembling that of a duck, a mole-like body, a tail resembling that of a beaver, a waterproof pelt, and flat webbed feet — males have poisonous spurs on the inside of the back legs. The platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) lives in the freshwater streams of Tasmania and eastern mainland Australia.

Synonyms
duck-billed platypus
duckbill
duckmole
watermole

Translations
trans-top|Ornithorhynchus anatinus
Arabic: ARchar|خ�د ا��اء (khuld al-ma�) m
Bulgarian: п�и�е�овка (ptitse�ovka) f
Chinese: 鸭�� (y� zu� shòu)
Croatian: �udnovati kljunaš m
Czech: ptakopysk m
Danish: næbdyr n
Dutch: vogelbekdier n
Esperanto: ornitorinko
Estonian: nokkloom
Finnish: vesinokkaeläin
French: ornithorynque m
German: Schnabeltier n
Hebrew: �ר���� (barvazon)
Icelandic: breiðnefur m
Ido: ornitorinko
Indonesian: platipus
trans-mid
Italian: ornitorinco
Japanese: ����� (鴨�, �����, kamonohashi)
Korean: �리�구리 (orineoguri)
Lithuanian: an�iasnapis
Malay: #Malay|platypus
Norwegian: nebbdyr
Ossetic: баб�зв�ндз (babyzvyndz)
Persian: FAchar|��ک اردک� (nook ordaki), FAchar|ار�� تر�گ (ornitorank)
Polish: dziobak m
Portuguese: ornitorrinco m
Russian: ��коно� (utkonós) m
Slovene: kljunaš m
Spanish: ornitorrinco m
Swedish: näbbdjur n
Thai: THchar|�ุ���า����� (dtòon bpàak bpèt)
trans-bottom

Quotations

Singular platypus
1779, w:George Shaw|George Shaw, The Naturalist's Miscellany: Or, Coloured Figures Of Natural Objects; Drawn and Described Immediately From Nature
:The Platypus is a native of Australia or New Holland, and is at present in the possession of Mr. Dobson, so much distinguished by his exquisite manner of preparing specimens of vegetable anatomy.

Plural form platypuses
1958, Richard H. Manville, Concerning Platypuses, in Journal of Mammology, Vol. 39, No. 4
:For the past ten years the only living duck-billed platypuses, Ornithorhynchus anatinus, outside their native Australia and Tasmania were the two in the collection of the New York Zoological Society.

Plural form platypi
1832, On the Mammary Glands of the Ornithorhynchus paradoxus, in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Vol. 122
:In the insides of several female Platypi which were shot, eggs were found of the size of a large musket-ball and downwards, imperfectly formed however, i. e. without the hard outer shell, which prevented their preservation. Several young Platypi were obtained and put into spirits, in which state they are forwarded.

Plural form platypus
1998, Paul R. Manger, Leslie S. Hall & John D. Pettigrew, The Development of the External Features of the Platypus (Ornithorhynchus Anatinus), in Philosophical Transactions: Biological Sciences, Vol. 353, No. 1372
:In this study, the examination of 33 nestling platypus was undertaken, which represents the largest collection of nestling platypus examined in any single study. The ages of these platypus ranged from the day of hatching through to approximately 6 months of age.

Plural form platypodes
2001: Peter Mackay, Native Animal Recipes? in canb.general ¹
:Anyway, kangaroos evolved here, as did platypodes and a whole bunch of other birds and animals and fish and plants. Murray Cod. Emu. Macadamias.

See also
echidna
monotreme

Category:Mammals
Category:Monotremes

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• 2007-10-04 05:08 - Interwicket - iwiki +hu

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