Consider the platypus. It has a duck-like bill covered with specialized
receptors for finding its prey; a beaver-like tail covered with fur that is not
used for swimming; and otter-like webbed feet for swimming (front) and steering
(rear) armed with straight claws for digging (front) and curved claws for grooming
(rear). Females lay eggs and nurse their young, but lack nipples. If you didn’t
already know that it exists, you’d be hard pressed to believe that it does. Platypus
were “discovered” near Sydney by European settlers in 1797 (of course, Aboriginal
Australians knew about them for millennia). Bewildered, the local governor sent
skins and drawings to Great Britain. British zoologists who examined the
specimens in 1798 thought they were a hoax perpetrated by Chinese taxidermists,
who were selling mummified monkeys with fish tails as mermaids at the time (link).
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| Platypus in Broken River, Eungella National Park |
