Editing Platypus (section)

== Taxonomy and naming ==
{{See also|Plural form of words ending in -us#Platypus}}

[[Australian Aboriginal people]] name or have named the platypus in various ways depending on [[Australian Aboriginal languages|Australian indigenous languages and dialects]]. Among the names found: ''boondaburra'', ''mallingong'', ''tambreet'', ''watjarang''<ref>{{cite web|access-date=2024-10-03 |date=2024-03-06 |language=en-US |title=Platypus names (including "What's the plural of platypus?") - Australian Platypus Conservancy |url=https://platypus.asn.au/platypus-names-including-whats-the-plural-of-platypus/ |website=platypus.asn.au}}<!-- auto-translated from French by Module:CS1 translator --></ref> (names in [[Yass, New South Wales|Yass]], [[Murrumbidgee Shire|Murrumbidgee]], and [[Tumut]]),<ref name=":2" /> ''tohunbuck'' (region of [[Goomburra]], [[Darling Downs]]),<ref name=":2">{{cite web|access-date=2024-10-03 |language=en-US |title=Platypus {{!}} Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland |url=https://wildlife.org.au/news-resources/educational-resources/species-profiles/mammals/platypus/}}<!-- auto-translated from French by Module:CS1 translator --></ref> ''dulaiwarrung''<ref>{{cite book|author1=M. Serena & G.A. Williams |date=2010 |publisher=Australian Platypus Conservancy |title=Conserving platypus and rat waters |url=https://www.tweed.nsw.gov.au/files/assets/public/v/1/documents/environment/waterways-amp-coastline/conserving-platypus-information-and-guidelines.pdf}}<!-- auto-translated from French by Module:CS1 translator --></ref> or ''dulai warrung'' ([[Woiwurrung–Taungurung language|Woiwurrung]] language, [[Wurundjeri]], [[Victoria (State)|Victoria]]),<ref name=":1">{{cite web|access-date=2024-10-03 |language=en |title=Platypus- WWF-Australia {{!}} Platypus {{!}} WWF Australia |url=https://wwf.org.au/what-we-do/species/platypus/ |website=wwf.org.au}}<!-- auto-translated from French by Module:CS1 translator --></ref> ''djanbang'' ([[Yugambeh–Bundjalung languages|Bundjalung]], [[Queensland]]),<ref>{{cite web|access-date=2024-10-03 |language=en |title=Platypus- WWF-Australia {{!}} Platypus {{!}} WWF Australia |url=https://wwf.org.au/what-we-do/species/platypus/ |website=wwf.org.au}}<!-- auto-translated from French by Module:CS1 translator --></ref> ''djumulung'' ([[Yuin–Kuric languages|Yuin]] language, [[Yuin]], [[New South Wales]]),<ref>{{cite web|access-date=2024-10-03 |language=en |title=Platypus- WWF-Australia {{!}} Platypus {{!}} WWF Australia |url=https://wwf.org.au/what-we-do/species/platypus/ |website=wwf.org.au}}<!-- auto-translated from French by Module:CS1 translator --></ref> ''maluŋgaŋ'' (ngunnawal language, [[Ngunnawal]], [[Australian Capital Territory]]<ref>{{cite web|access-date=2024-10-03 |language=en |title=Platypus- WWF-Australia {{!}} Platypus {{!}} WWF Australia |url=https://wwf.org.au/what-we-do/species/platypus/ |website=wwf.org.au}}<!-- auto-translated from French by Module:CS1 translator --></ref>), ''biladurang'', ''wamul'', ''dyiimalung'', ''oornie'', ''dungidany'' ([[Wiradjuri language|Wiradjuri]] language, [[Wiradjuri]], [[Victoria (State)|Vic]], [[New South Wales|NSW]]),<ref name=":1" /> ''oonah'',<ref>{{cite web | url=https://steemit.com/animals/@mostly.nature/platypus-out-of-the-water | title=Platypus Out of the Water | date=3 July 2017 }}</ref> etc. The name chosen and approved in [[Palawa kani]] (reconstructed [[Tasmanian languages|Tasmanian]] language) is ''larila''.<ref>{{cite web|access-date=2024-10-03 |language=en-AU |title=Larila's Legacy |url=https://hobartrivuletplatypus.org/larilas-legacy/ |website=Hobart Rivulet Platypus}}<!-- auto-translated from French by Module:CS1 translator --></ref>

When the platypus was first encountered by Europeans in 1798, a [[Pelage|pelt]] and sketch were sent back to [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]] by [[John Hunter (Royal Navy officer)|Captain John Hunter]], the second Governor of [[New South Wales]].<ref name="Paradox">{{cite journal|journal=BioScience|jstor=1313511|title=The Paradoxical Platypus|first=Brian K. |last=Hall|volume=49|issue=3|pages=211–8|date=March 1999|doi=10.2307/1313511|doi-access=free}}</ref> British scientists' initial hunch was that the attributes were a hoax.<ref name="hoax">{{cite web|url=http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/archive/permalink/the_duckbilled_platypus|title=Duck-billed Platypus|publisher=Museum of hoaxes|access-date=21 July 2010|archive-date=29 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140729074144/http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/archive/permalink/the_duckbilled_platypus|url-status=live}}</ref> [[George Shaw (biologist)|George Shaw]], who produced the first description of the animal in the ''Naturalist's Miscellany'' in 1799, stated it was impossible not to entertain doubts as to its genuine nature,<ref name="Shaw-1799">{{cite journal |last1=Shaw |first1=George |last2=Nodder |first2=Frederick Polydore |title=The Duck-Billed Platypus, ''Platypus anatinus'' |journal=The Naturalist's Miscellany |year=1799 |volume=10 |issue=CXVIII |pages=385–386 |doi=10.5962/p.304567 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/304567 }}</ref> and [[Robert Knox (surgeon)|Robert Knox]] believed it might have been produced by some Asian [[Taxidermy|taxidermist]].<ref name="hoax"/> It was thought somebody had sewn a duck's beak onto the body of a beaver-like animal. Shaw even took a pair of scissors to the dried skin to check for stitches.<ref name="APC">{{cite web|url=http://www.platypus.asn.au/|title=Platypus facts file|publisher=Australian Platypus Conservancy|access-date=13 September 2006|archive-date=10 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151110113935/http://www.platypus.asn.au/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Shaw-1799" />

The common name "platypus" literally means 'flat-foot', deriving from the [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] word {{transliteration|grc|platúpous}} ({{wikt-lang|grc|πλατύπους}}),<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dplatu%2Fpous πλατύπους] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225004134/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dplatu%2Fpous |date=25 February 2021 }}, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, ''A Greek-English Lexicon'', on Perseus</ref> from {{transliteration|grc|platús}} ({{wikt-lang|grc|πλατύς}} 'broad, wide, flat')<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dplatu%2Fs πλατύς] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225083230/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dplatu%2Fs |date=25 February 2021 }}, ''A Greek-English Lexicon'', on Perseus</ref>{{efn|The same root gives rise to [[platysma]], a broad, wide and flat muscle of the neck.}} and {{transliteration|grc|poús}} ({{wikt-lang|grc|πούς}} 'foot').<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dpou%2Fs πούς] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227054504/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dpou%2Fs |date=27 February 2021 }}, ''A Greek-English Lexicon'', on Perseus</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=Liddell, Henry George|author2=Scott, Robert|name-list-style=amp|year=1980|title=Greek-English Lexicon, Abridged Edition|publisher=Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK|isbn=978-0-19-910207-5|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/lexicon00lidd}}</ref> Shaw initially assigned the species the [[Linnaean taxonomy|Linnaean]] name ''Platypus anatinus'' when he described it,<ref name="Shaw-1799"/> but the genus term was quickly discovered to already be in use as the name of the wood-boring [[ambrosia beetle]] genus ''[[Platypus (beetle)|Platypus]]''.<ref name="ABRS">{{cite book|chapter-url=http://www.deh.gov.au/biodiversity/abrs/publications/fauna-of-australia/pubs/volume1b/16-ind.pdf |title=Fauna of Australia |chapter=16 |volume=1b |first=J.R. |last=Grant |publisher=Australian Biological Resources Study (ABRS) |access-date=13 September 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050519143852/http://www.deh.gov.au/biodiversity/abrs/publications/fauna-of-australia/pubs/volume1b/16-ind.pdf |archive-date=19 May 2005 }}</ref> It was independently described as ''Ornithorhynchus paradoxus'' by [[Johann Blumenbach]] in 1800 (from a specimen given to him by [[Sir Joseph Banks]])<ref name="NLA">{{cite web|url=http://www.nla.gov.au/pub/gateways/archive/52/p16a01.html|title=Platypus Paradoxes|publisher=National Library of Australia|date=August 2001|access-date=14 September 2006|archive-date=5 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120305074657/http://www.nla.gov.au/pub/gateways/archive/52/p16a01.html|url-status=live}}</ref> and following the [[principle of priority|rules of priority]] of nomenclature, it was later officially recognised as ''Ornithorhynchus anatinus''.<ref name="ABRS"/>

There is no universally agreed plural form of "platypus" in the English language. Scientists generally use "platypuses" or simply "platypus". Alternatively, the term "platypi" is also used for the plural, although this is a form of [[Dog Latin|pseudo-Latin]];<ref name="APC" /> going by the word's Greek roots the plural would be "platypodes". Early [[United Kingdom|British]] [[settler]]s called it by many names, such as "watermole", "duckbill", and "duckmole".<ref name="APC" /> Occasionally it is specifically called the "duck-billed platypus".

The scientific name ''Ornithorhynchus anatinus'' literally means 'duck-like bird-snout',<ref name="Shaw-1799"/> deriving its [[generic epithet|genus name]] from the Greek root {{transliteration|grc|ornith-}} ({{wikt-lang|grc|ὄρνις|όρνιθ}} ''ornith'' or {{lang|el|ὄρνις}} ''órnīs'' 'bird')<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0057:entry=o)/rnis |title=ὄρνις |last1=Liddell |first1=Henry George |last2=Scott |first2=Robert |work=A Greek-English Lexicon |publisher=Perseus Digital Library |date=1940 |access-date=29 September 2022 |archive-date=4 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404195515/https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0057:entry=o)/rnis |url-status=live }}</ref> and the word {{transliteration|grc|rhúnkhos}} ({{wikt-lang|grc|ῥύγχος}} 'snout', 'beak').<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0057:entry=r(u/gxos |title=ῥύγχος |last1=Liddell |first1=Henry George |last2=Scott |first2=Robert |work=A Greek-English Lexicon |publisher=Perseus Digital Library |date=1940 |access-date=29 September 2022 |archive-date=23 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230423120445/https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0057:entry=r(u/gxos |url-status=live }}</ref> Its [[specific epithet|species name]] is derived from Latin {{wikt-lang|la|anatinus}} ('duck-like') from {{wikt-lang|la|anas}} 'duck'.<ref name="Shaw-1799"/><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url= https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aentry%3Danas1 |title= ănăs |last1= Lewis |first1= Charlton T. |last2= Short |first2= Charles |dictionary= A Latin Dictionary |edition=  |publisher= Perseus Digital Library |date= 1879 |access-date= 29 September 2022 |archive-date= 27 September 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230927152321/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aentry%3Danas1 |url-status= live }}</ref> The platypus is the sole living representative or monotypic taxon of its [[Family (biology)|family]] (Ornithorhynchidae).<ref>{{cite web |last=Bess |first=Anna |url=https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Ornithorhynchidae/ |title=ADW: Ornithorhynchidae: INFORMATION |publisher=Animaldiversity.org |date= |access-date=11 February 2022 |archive-date=17 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220117035152/https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Ornithorhynchidae/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
<gallery mode="packed" heights="180px">
platypus-plate.jpg|A book for children published in Germany in 1798
Platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus). First Description 1799.jpg|Illustration from the first scientific description in 1799
platypus-sketch.jpg|Colour print from 1863
</gallery>