What the hell is a platypus?

[fromdownunder]

A platypus is the platypus God created to confound you impious intellectuals.

And a pair of them walked home from Mount Ararat.

No, they and a pair of Koalas hitched a ride in a Kangaroo's pouch!

Bah! Desn't anybody here read history books any more?

Norm

 

[belinda]

Ah but what do you call two of the creatures, hhmmm.

That is the bigger mystery.

 

[Meffy]

Latin words ending in the suffix "-us" routinely change it to "-i" in the plural, but this ain't Latin. It's platypuses. Same goes for octopuses. Both end in "-pus," from "pous," the Greek -- not Latin -- for "foot" (flat-foot and eight-foot, respectively). To be achingly classical one might even call them platypodes and octopodes, but as Dick Van Dyke said in the movie of Mary Poppins, "that's going a bit far, don't you think?"

 

[mumchup]

I've just read the selfish gene, and was thinking of buying another dawkins book....which would people recommed? Extended Phenotype i was thinking.....

I thought The Ancestor's Tale was a real page turner. I enjoy Dawkin's writing style and evolution is one of my favorite subjects.

 

[belinda]

Latin words ending in the suffix "-us" routinely change it to "-i" in the plural, but this ain't Latin. It's platypuses. Same goes for octopuses. Both end in "-pus," from "pous," the Greek -- not Latin -- for "foot" (flat-foot and eight-foot, respectively). To be achingly classical one might even call them platypodes and octopodes, but as Dick Van Dyke said in the movie of Mary Poppins, "that's going a bit far, don't you think?"

Thanks Meffy - I always have arguments with people over it whenever they see my tat (which you can see as my avatar.)

 

[Meffy]

Nice work there. Now you can give the authoritative word -- from a skunk, yet!

Little kid writes a letter. "Dear Santa, for Christmas I want two mongooses." He thinks that's not quite right, so he tries again.

"Dear Santa, for Christmas I want two mongeese." Hm, that sounds odd too...

Aha! "Dear Santa, for Christmas I want a mongoose and then I want another one."

 

[JamesDillon]

I thought The Ancestor's Tale was a real page turner. I enjoy Dawkin's writing style and evolution is one of my favorite subjects.

I'm afraid he lost me with the logarithmic charts, but that's my own shortcoming, not Dawkins's. I certainly wouldn't discourage anyone from reading The Ancestor's Tale, though if you've only read The Selfish Gene, there are easier books to pick up for a second helping of Dawkins than that one. The Extended Phenotype is a good choice. I wouldn't recommend The Blind Watchmaker; it's not bad, really, it just didn't do as much for me as The Selfish Gene did.

 

[Oldpossum]

For the real reason for "Why the Platypus"

You need to read Terry Pratchett's "The Last Continent"!

And JayT, I believe that some of the Sheep, could be considered normal (Harmless) Animals!

Interesting Platypus trivia, Did you know that the Venom from the Male Platypus, specifically targets mammalian pain receptor cells?
(To be more accurate, its primary target is platypus pain receptor cells.)
Being stung by a male Platypus, is one of the more painfull events you can ever experience, and as an aside, All Opiates (Heroin, morphine, etc..), or any other regular analgesics, such as asprin, are ineffective at blocking this pain.

Oh, And I have often seen platypus in the wild, so I personally know, that they are a real animal!

 

[a_unique_person]

Here's another favorite of mine -- the naked mole rat...

Or the grey nurse shark. The young gestate inside the mother, eating each other till only two are left.

 

[Flange Desire]

Meffy, they are commonly known as platipii in the plural, even though this may be bastard latin.

One of only 3 mammalian monotreme species - the other being the 2 echidnas.
Monotreme meaning one hole for all sorts of purposes.

The electolocation they use is probably very handy for ferreting around in the dark water (which also gets pretty muddy after all that ferretting around).
They eat yabbies (small fresh water crays), moluscs, water insects (and plant material i think?).
They generally only live in very clean flowing water, and have their burrows in the bank with the entrances generally below the water line.
Most active at dusk and dawn, and are definitely as cute as all get out if you see them in the wild. Almost as cute as Meffy.

All this is from memory so don't take it as gospel - except for the cute part.

andyandy: It's true!
but drop-bears aint.

 

[Ausmerican]

but drop-bears aint.

aaah drop-bears, gotta love em. When I took my wife (American) home for a visit we went camping and had to give her the usual warnings re drop bears while sitting around the fire. My little brother had a hard time keeping a straight face tho. Straight faces were completely out of the question the following morning when my wife came into the tent and warned us there were baby bears outside. Bears? In Oz? Her baby bears turned out to be adult wombats. She still hasn't lived that down.

 

[Cuddles]

Latin words ending in the suffix "-us" routinely change it to "-i" in the plural, but this ain't Latin. It's platypuses. Same goes for octopuses. Both end in "-pus," from "pous," the Greek -- not Latin -- for "foot" (flat-foot and eight-foot, respectively). To be achingly classical one might even call them platypodes and octopodes, but as Dick Van Dyke said in the movie of Mary Poppins, "that's going a bit far, don't you think?"

Surely it should be octopussies?

 

[MRC_Hans]

Surely it should be octopussies?

No doubt more fun that platypussies.

Hans

 

[ponderingturtle]

Latin words ending in the suffix "-us" routinely change it to "-i" in the plural, but this ain't Latin. It's platypuses. Same goes for octopuses. Both end in "-pus," from "pous," the Greek -- not Latin -- for "foot" (flat-foot and eight-foot, respectively). To be achingly classical one might even call them platypodes and octopodes, but as Dick Van Dyke said in the movie of Mary Poppins, "that's going a bit far, don't you think?"

Or you can treat english as the germanic language that it is and just add another s to the end

 

[Meffy]

Or you can treat english as the germanic language that it is and just add another s to the end

-es, rather, which is the preferred form I recommended. :-}

 

[belinda]

No doubt more fun that platypussies.

Hans

Oh no - platypussies (use a strong aussie accent and get "pat the pussie") is a lot more fun - let me assure you.

 

[Dark Jaguar]

Simple answer? All nature is the side project, specialist species of all manner just to gather interesting genes. The MAIN project is the platypus. Slowly, the planet gathers all the best genes together to create the ultimate life form, the Omegapus, which when completed will drain the world of it's essence and send it's offspring into the great vastness of space and into the next stage. It's all right here in this pamphlet.

 

[SimonJ1966]

What about Yowies

If its good enough for North America to have Big Foot then its good enough for us to have Yowies.

I have yet to see any grainy, blurry video evidence, but plenty of drunken campers swear they have seen one!! There is a clear relationship between alchohol intake and sightings - much like alien space craft.

Beware of the Yowie!

 

[Strider1974]

There is some great footage of a Platypus in the BBC's Life Of Mammals.

 

[Brainache]

If its good enough for North America to have Big Foot then its good enough for us to have Yowies.

I have yet to see any grainy, blurry video evidence, but plenty of drunken campers swear they have seen one!! There is a clear relationship between alchohol intake and sightings - much like alien space craft.

Beware of the Yowie!

And Bunyips!