platypus

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platypus (plural platypuses or platypus or (common, hypercorrect) platypi or (rare) platypodes)

platypuses (plural)
platypus (plural)
platypi (common hypercorrect plural)
platypodes (plural rare)

From New Latin Platypus (originally a genus name already in use for a type of beetle), from Ancient Greek πλατύπους (platúpous, “flat-footed”), from πλατύς (platús, “flat”) + πούς (poús, “foot”). Piecewise doublet of flatfoot.

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Victoria's Healesville Sanctuary is celebrating the births of two baby platypuses, in a major milestone.

2008 March 2, “Captive platypus twins make history”, in ABC News:

Ornithorhynchus anatinus
Ornithorhynchus anatinus#Translingual

A semi-aquatic, egg-laying monotreme mammal with a bill resembling that of a duck, that has 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; Ornithorhynchus anatinus.


echidna

Coined in scientific literature around 1811. Probably from Ancient Greek ἔχιδνα (ékhidna, “snake, viper”) via Latin echidna. Compare ἐχῖνος (ekhînos, “hedgehog, etc.”). However, this sense is problematic (unless it is a reference to the ant-eating tongue). The name perhaps belongs to Latin echinus (“sea urchin, hedgehog”) from the aforementioned Ancient Greek term's alternate sense of "sea-urchin" (also "sharp points"), which Watkins explains as "snake-eater", from ἔχις (ékhis, “snake”), though it may actually be from Proto-Indo-European *h₁éǵʰis (“hedgehog, hedgehog-like animals”). The 1810 Encyclopaedia Britannica deduces thus the animal's alternative name as "porcupine ant-eater".
Alternatively, and perhaps more likely, the name refers to Echidna as the name of a serpent-nymph in Greek mythology, "a beautiful woman in the upper part of her body; but instead of legs and feet, she had from the waist downward, the form of a serpent", in which case the animal was named for its mixed features (early naturalists doubted whether it was a mammal or amphibian). Ultimately, the etymology may be from a synthesis of all the roots above. (From OED.)

Any of the species of small spined monotremes in family Tachyglossidae, the four extant species of which are found in Australia and southern New Guinea.

mierystervark

any of the four species of small spined monotremes


duck-billed platypus

en-noun

duck-billed platypus (plural duck-billed platypuses)


monotreme

(zoology) A mammal of the order Monotremata that lays eggs and has a single orifice for urogenital and digestive functions (cloaca); an echidna or a platypus.

однопрохо́дное

млекопита́ющее

яйцекладу́щее

млекопита́ющее

клоа́чное

млекопита́ющее


puggle

Transferal of trademarked name of a range of soft toys from the mid-1970s which superficially resemble baby echidnas.

Larger furred/spined puggles can be held in a wooden box with shredded paper.

2003, Stephen Jackson, Australian Mammals: Biology and Captive Management, unnumbered page:

2003, Robert Burton, The International Wildlife Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition, Volume 18: SOL-SWA, page 2488,
The puggle, which grows rapidly, remains in the pouch until its spines are sufficiently developed that the mother must eject it.

Hatching takes 10 days; the young echidna, called a puggle, then sucks milk from the pores of two milk patches and remains in the pouch for 45 to 55 days, at which time the spines develop. The mother digs a nursery burrow and deposits the puggle, returning every 5 days to suckle it until it is weaned at 7 months.

2012, Joseph Springer, Dennis Holley, An Introduction to Zoology, page 498:

(chiefly Australia) A baby monotreme (echidna or platypus).


bunning

1988, R. Langford, Don’t Take Your Love to Town
Old folk hunted for bandicoot and bunning in this grass.


duckbill

duckbill eel

Nettastoma parviceps, or Nessorhamphus ingolfianus

duckbill ray

Aetobatus narinari or Pteromylaeus bovinus

duck-billed platypus
duck-billed platypus


Sir David's long-beaked echidna

Sir David's long-beaked echidna (plural Sir David's long-beaked echidnas or Sir David's long-beaked echidnae)

Sir David's long-beaked echidnas (plural)
Sir David's long-beaked echidnae (plural)

Named after David Attenborough, British naturalist

Zaglossus attenboroughi, a species of long-beaked echidna.


prototherian

/ˌpɹoʊtɵˈθɪəɹi.ən/

From Prototheria, from Ancient Greek πρωτο- (prōto-, “proto-, first”) + θηρίον (thēríon, “beast”); + -ian.

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Monotremes (prototherians), which include the duck-billed platypus, and short- and long-beaked echidnas, have a cloaca—a single opening for the fecal, urinary, and reproductive tracts.

1999, George A. Feldhamer, Mammalogy: Adaptation, Diversity, and Ecology, McGraw-Hill, →ISBN, page 192:

Any of the egg-laying mammals of the subclass Prototheria; a monotreme.


platypusary

From platypus + -ary, coined by Australian naturalist Henry Burrell (1873–1945), the first person who succeeded in constructing a functioning platypusary.

It was Mr. Harry Burrell, of Sydney, who first designed an intricate model home for the platypus and coined for it the obviously suitable name of "Platypusary".

1944, David Howells Fleay, We breed the platypus, page 14:

When building "platypusaries" in zoos and sanctuaries it is essential to ensure that man-made tunnels are tight-fitting.

1974, Dal Stivens, The incredible egg: a billion year journey, page 354:

There was nothing for it but to install the three duckbills in the travelling platypusary in one of the Pan American hangars and hope for the best.

1980, David Howells Fleay, Paradoxical Platypus: Hobnobbing with Duckbills, page 106:

(Australia) A place where platypuses are nurtured.


duck mole

(rare) A platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus).


ornithorhynchus

/ˌɔː(ɹ)nɪθəˈɹɪŋkəs/

From translingual Ornithorhynchus (genus name).


ornithorhynchid

(zoology) A duck-billed platypus, or any of its extinct relatives in the family Ornithorhynchidae.


tachyglossid

(zoology) Any member of the family Tachyglossidae, the echidnas or spiny anteaters


duckmole

We can form a fairly clear idea from the duckmole and the kangaroo how the whole class of mammals have arisen from reptiles, but when we turn to geology we find the case greatly strengthened.

1906, Dennis Hird, A Picture Book of Evolution, volume 1, page 147:

“Duckmoles? I never heard of them.” His fleshy bill was the same shape as a duck's, but with comblike ridges inside the bottom half. “May I pick you up?” He nodded. “Mind the spurs on my hind feet, though. I've poison in them.”

2009, Tamora Pierce, The Realms of the Gods, page 39:

“Tell me, sir,” she says, “does this duckmole, does it quack?”

2023, Kevin M. Miller, Wigs on the Green:


australosphenidan

Any echidna or platypus of the infraclass Australosphenida


yinotherian

Any of the egg-laying mammals of the subclass Yinotheria; a monotreme.