978 MAMMALIA—PLATYPUS. 
height at the shoulder is only one inch and three quarters, and the length 
of its tail is oneinch. This is rather less than half the size of the three 
banded armadillo. It is a native of South America. 
THE DUCK-BILLED PLATYPUS.1 
New Horzanp is the country that produces this anomalous animal, one 
of the strangest sports of nature, as it combines the bill of a bird with the 
usual characteristics of a quadruped. So singular is this union, that 1t was 
at first supposed to be the trick of some person, for the purpose of imposing 
on collectors. When the creature was first discovered, it received the allu- 
sive name of ornithorynchus paradoxicus ; but it has since been denominated 
the platypus anatinus, or duck-billed platypus. It has a depressed body, 
somewhat resembling that of an otter in miniature, which is covered with a 
soft fur, dark brown above, and of a ferruginous white beneath. The head 
is flattish, and the snout so exactly resembles that of some broad billed 
species of duck, that it might easily be mistaken for such. The tail is flat, 
furry, and of the same color as the body. The length of the whole animal, 
from the tip of the beak to that of the tail, is thirteen inches; of the beak, 
an inch anda half. The legs are very short, and terminate in a broad web, 
which on the fore feet extends to a considerable distance beyond the claws , 
put on the hind feet reaches no further than the roots of the claws. On the 
upper part of the head, on each side, a little beyond the beak, are situated 
two oval white spots, in the lower part of each of which the eyes are em- 
bedded. ‘ : 
From the general form of this animal, and particularly its bill and webbed 
feet, it may naturally be concluded, that it resides in watery situations ; 
that it has the habit of digging or burrowing in the banks of rivers, or under 
ground; and that its food consists of aquatic plants and animals 
ORDER EIGHTH.—PACHYDERMATA. 
Antmats of this order have three or two kinds of teeth; four extremities, 
with the toes variable in number, and furnished with strong nails or hoofs; 
no clavicles; organs of digestion not disposed for ruminating. This order 
commences the series of hoofed quadrupeds. 
1 Platypus anatinus. This genus, which comprises only two individuals yet known, 
has four upper and four lower molars, the teeth are fibrous, and fixed only in the 
gum; a horny beak resembling a duck’s bill; nostrils contiguous, opening at the end 
of the upper mandible ; cheek pouches; feet webbed, pentadactyle; with a spur on the 
»and ones in the male ; tail short, broad at the base. 
