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Article: The platypus: bird? Reptile? Mammal? No one knew what to call it. (Science In Action).
- Article from:
- Highlights for Children
- Article date:
- June 1, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 Highlights for Children, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The platypus is a furry, four-footed animal that lives in rivers near the eastern coast of Australia. It was well known to the early native Australians, the Aborigines. But it was a new and curious animal to the first Europeans who came to explore and later settle.
For scientists back in England, the process of discovering and understanding the platypus was so difficult that it went on for more than eighty years. Part of the problem was the month-long voyage to Australia. More of the problem was in the animal's strange characteristics, which had never been seen together in one animal.
The first scientific description of the platypus was made from a ...