My mother's a duck, my father's a beaver and I'm in therapy! The Platypus

If when looking upon this cute little critter to the right your heart doesn't melt, have someone check your pulse. The platypus gets an honorary place in this blog because he is partially aquatic, and really anything that touches the water is good enough for a discussion.

Despite unbelievably cuddly appearances, the duck-billed platypus (which is a bit redundant, there is only kind of platypus) is actually a bit of a gangster. It is one of the few venomous mammals on earth. That's right, this animal is in the same quilting circle as the Man O' War. The males have a spur (loosely resembling a really long nail) on their hind feett that contains toxins. Should you ever cause the platypus to have to use his spur...well, it was nice knowing you. Generally the jabs are not fatal...but you will be feeling it for days.

The platypus is a native of Australia, but it's not friends with the Geico gecko. Where lizards and amphibians in general are plentiful down under, platypuses were nearly hunted into extinction for its beautiful dense fur. Its name comes from the Greek combination that literally translates to "flat foot". The original discovery of the platypus is credited to John Hunter, though many people were positive the animal was a hoax. After all...wasn't evolution supposed to be streamlined, not hodge podged?

Amongst other things that the platypus enjoys is driving people nuts with possible plural forms of its name. There is no universally agreed upon plural, although it's rumored that he prefers "platypodes" which would be the Greek plural. In addition to its oddly cute appearance, strange and complicated name, it is one of five mammal species to belong to a very exclusive club: monotremes. This means they lay eggs instead of giving live birth. Not only this, but they hunt with electrolocation. That means, amazingly, they find food via the electrical impulses given off by prey. They hunt frequently, and are often thought of as the Australian Kobayashi. They typically eat 20% of their bodyweight daily. Despite having to hunt regularly, the platypus's dives are usually very short, hence it being semi-aquatic. It's not very impressive to see an animal go into the water all graceful and then come up gasping and choking for air 30 seconds later.

Conservation efforts have been stepped up for these furry fellows, as their community was threatened with collapse during the 19th century. However it's still facing major ecological changes, and many populations have been driven to other parts of the Australian coasts as their local habitats have been drying up or becoming too warm to be accommodating. So although you may never see one up and close and personal, what we do here effects the world. If you are ever lucky enough to happen upon one, please send pictures and give him a smile. He's not into hugs.