a remarkable Monotreme (q.v.), in shape like a Mole, with a bill like a Duck.Hence its other names of Duck-bill or Duck-Mole.It has received various names – – Platypus anatinus, Duck-billed Platypus, Ornithorhynchus, Ornithorhynchus paradoxus, Paradoxus, Water-mole, etc. (Grk. platus = broad, pous = foot, 'ornithos = of a bird, runchos = beak or bill.) The name Platypusis now the name by which it is always popularly known inAustralia, but see quotation from Lydekker below (1894).From the British Museum Catalogue of Marsupials and Monotremes(1888), it will be found that the name Platypus, givenby Shaw in 1799, had been preoccupied as applied to a beetleby Herbst in 1793. It was therefore replaced, in scientificnomenclature, by the name Ornithorhynchus, by Blumenbachin 1800. In view of the various names, vernacular andscientific, under which it is mentioned by different writers,all quotations referring to it are placed under this word, Platypus. The habits and description of the animalappear in those quotations. From 1882 to 1891 the Platypus figured on five of the postage stamps ofTasmania.
1802. G. Barrington, `History of New South Wales,' c. xi.p. 425:
«This animal, which has obtained the name of Ornithorhynchusparadoxus, is still very little known.»
1802. D. Collins, `Account of English Colony in New SouthWales,' vol. ii. p. 35:
[List of Engravings.]« Ornithorhynchus paradoxus.»
[At p. 63]:
«Ornithorhynchus (an amphibious animal of the molekind).»
1809. G. Shaw, `Zoological Lecturer,' vol. i. p. 78:
«This genus, which at present consists but of a single speciesand its supposed varieties, is distinguished by the title of Platypus or Ornithorhynchus. . . Its Englishgeneric name of duckbill is that by which it is commonlyknown.»
1815. `History of New South Wales' (1818), p. 447:
«In the reaches or pools of the Campbell River, the verycurious animal called the paradox, or watermole, is seen ingreat numbers.»
1827. P. Cunningham, `Two Years in New South Wales,'vol. i. p. 325:
«I cannot omit to mention likewise the Ornithorynchus,that remarkable animal which forms a link between the bird andbeast, having a bill like a duck and paws webbed similar tothat bird, but legs and body like those of a quadruped,covered with thick coarse hair, with a broad tail to steer by.»
1836. C. Darwin, `Naturalist's Voyage,' c. xix. p. 321:
«Had the good fortune to see several of the Ornithorhynchusparadoxus. . . . Certainly it is a most extraordinaryanimal; a stuffed specimen does not at all give a good idea ofthe appearance of the head and beak when fresh, the latterbecoming hard and contracted.»
1848. W. Westgarth, `Australia Felix,' p. 131:
«The specimen which has excited the greatest astonishment isthe Ornithorynchus paradoxus, which, fitted by a seriesof contrivances to live equally well in both elements, unitesin itself the habits and appearance of a bird, a quadruped,and a reptile.»
1850. J. B. Clutterbuck, `Port Phillip in 1849,' p. 42:
«Platypus, water-mole or duckbill.»
1860. G.Bennett, `Gatherings of a Naturalist,' p. 96:
«The Ornithorhynchus is known to the colonists bythe nme of the watermole, from some resemblance which itis supposed to bear to the common European mole ( TalpaEuropoea, Linn.)»
1860. G. Bennett, `Gatherings of a Naturalist,' p. 95:
«When first a preserved skin was sent to England, it excitedgreat distrust, being considered a fraud upon thenaturalist. . . It was first described and figured by Shaw inthe year 1799, in the `Naturalist's Miscellany,' vol. x., bythe name of Platypus anatinus, or Duck-billed Platypus,and it was noticed in Collins's `New South Wales' 2nd ed.[should be vol. ii. not 2nd ed.], 4to. p. 62, 1802,where it is named Ornithorhyncus paradoxus, Blum. . .There is a rude figure given of this animal in Collins's work.»
1884. Marcus Clarke, `Memorial Volume,' p. 177:
«The Platypus Club is in Camomile Street, and the Platypi arevery haughty persons.»
1890. `Victorian Statutes – – the Game Act' (Third Schedule):
[Close Season.] «Platypus. The whole year.»
1890. C. Lumholtz, `Among Cannibals,' p. 30:
«In the Dee river . . . I observed several times the remarkableplatypus ( Ornithorhynchus anatinus) swimming rapidlyabout after the small water-insects and vegetable particleswhich constitute its food. It shows only a part of its backabove water, and is so quick in its movements that itfrequently dives under water before the shot can reach it.»
1891. `Guide to Zoological Gardens, Melbourne':
«In the next division the platypus and its burrows are shown.These curious oviparous animals commence their long burrowsunder water, and work upwards into dry ground. The nest isconstructed in a little chamber made of dry leaves and grass,and is very warm and comfortable; there is a second entrance ondry ground. The young are found in the months of September andOctober, but occasionally either a little earlier or later;generally two or three at a time.»
1892. A. Sutherland, `Elementary Geography of BritishColonies,' p. 273:
«The platypus is covered with fur like an otter, and has fourwebbed feet, like those of a duck, and a black duck-like bill.It makes a burrow in a river bank, but with an opening belowthe level of the water. It swims and dives in quiet shadyriver-bends, and disappears on hearing the least noise.»
1894. R. Lydekker, `Marsupialia,' p. 233:
«The duck-bill was originally described under the name of Platypus anatinus, which was Anglicised into duck-billedplatypus, but since the generic name [ Platypus] had beenpreviously employed for another group of animals, it had,by the rules of zoological nomenclature, to give place to thelater Ornithorhynchus, although Shaw's specific nameof anatina still holds good. On these grounds it islikewise preferable to discard the Anglicised term Duck-billedPlatypus in favour of the simpler Duck-bill or Duck-Mole.»
[Mr. Lydekker is a scientific Englishman, who has not livedin Australia, and although the names of Duck-billand Duck-mole are perhaps preferable for more exactscientific use, yet by long usage the name Platypus has becomethe ordinary vernacular name, and is the one by which theanimal will always be known in Australian popular language.]