platypus

/ˈplæɾɪpʊs/

/ˈplætɪpʊs/

Other forms: platypuses

What animal has a duck bill, fuzzy kitten belly, beaver tail, and poisonous webbed feet? A platypus! A platypus is a wacky mammal that mainly lives in the water off Australia. Although a platypus is a mammal, it lays eggs.

Because of its distinctive bill, the platypus is often called the duck billed platypus. It's an unusual animal, defying many of the usual characteristics of a mammal — the platypus lays eggs, is aquatic, has a tail like a beaver's, is venomous like a snake, and has feet like an otter. In fact, when scientists from Europe first discovered the platypus, many of them thought it was a hoax. The Greek root, platypous, means "flat-footed."

Definitions of platypus

1. noun

   small densely furred aquatic monotreme of Australia and Tasmania having a broad bill and tail and webbed feet; only species in the family Ornithorhynchidae
   synonyms: Ornithorhynchus anatinus, duck-billed platypus, duckbill, duckbilled platypus

   type of:

   egg-laying mammal, monotreme

   the most primitive mammals comprising the only extant members of the subclass Prototheria