Platypus
Ornithorhynchus anatinus (Shaw, 1799)
Ornithorhynchidae
(Alecto Facsimile Edition - Plate 13)

BAU15

$350.00

15. Platypus. Ornithorhynchus anatinus (Shaw, 1799) [W,P&M]
508 x 337 mm
Bauer has drawn close-ups of the feet, bill and tail of the platypus, collected at Port Jackson in
July 1802 and September 1803, probably as an aid to determining its true zoological affinities. Its
webbed feet, presence of hair and egg-laying reproduction presented zoologists with problems
when trying to establish its relationship to other animals and which were not solved until many
years later. In this drawing the spurs, which are poisonous and only present on the hind feet of
the males, are clearly shown. The aquatic habits of the platypus fascinated the settlers as much
as visitors to the colony. Both Charles Darwin and John Gould, who visited the Colony in the
1830s, described them.
S&P : 13-14; W&M : 317, 336; W,P&M : 86-89; Norst : 73