ISO 



VEETEBRA.TEB 



Duck-billed Platypus. 



The Oknithorhtnchus has not the pouch, like the opos 

 sum and kangaroo, but has the marsupial bones, and is therefore 

 to be enumerated under this order. It is a most singular and 

 anomalous animal, and approaches, in some particulars, to a resem- 

 blance to birds. When the creature was first discovered, it re- 

 ceived the allusive name of Ornithorhynchus Paradoxicus ; but it 

 has since been denominated the Platypus Anatinus, or Duckbilled 



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 be- 

 neath. The head is flattish, 

 and the snout so exactly resembles that of some broad-billed spe- 

 cies 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 and a 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; but 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 embedded. From the general form of this animal, 

 and particularly its bill and webbed feet, it may naturally be con- 

 cluded that it resides in watery situations ; that it has the habil 

 of digging or burrowing in the banks of rivers or under ground ; 

 and that its food consists of aquatic plants and animals. 



