the.com/platypus
the mammal that lays eggs, glows blue, and detects prey with its face
means A small egg-laying, duck-billed, semiaquatic mammal native to eastern Australia and Tasmania, with webbed feet, a beaver-like tail, and a venomous spur in the males.
from From Greek 'platypous,' meaning 'flat-footed' — 'platys' (flat, broad, the same root that gives us 'plateau' and 'platform') plus 'pous' (foot, a cousin of Latin 'pes' and English 'foot'). European naturalists in the late 18th century named it for those splayed, webbed paddles. The would-be plural 'platypi' is a popular bit of mock-Latin; since the word is really Greek, sticklers prefer 'platypuses' (or, if feeling classical, 'platypodes').
- venom spurs
- males kick with venom strong enough to drop a dog
- no stomach
- food goes straight from gullet to intestine
- electroreception
- hunts with eyes, ears, and nose shut tight
- biofluorescent
- fur glows blue-green under ultraviolet light
- milk sweat
- mothers ooze milk through skin, lacking nipples
perry the platypus — fictional secret agent platypus from disney's phineas and ferb animated series