The Platypus That Looked Like a Hoax
When the first platypus skin reached Britain, scientists suspected someone had sewn a duck's bill onto a mammal.
What was reported
In 1798 a platypus skin and a sketch were sent from New South Wales to Britain. The naturalist George Shaw, who described it in 1799, could hardly believe it: it had a bill like a duck's, webbed feet, thick fur and a tail like a beaver's.
Shaw is said to have looked for stitches around the bill, suspecting a taxidermist's joke, since fake creatures sewn together from different animals were then being sold to collectors.
Explanations offered
The platypus is entirely real: one of the few mammals that lay eggs, found in eastern Australia. Its egg-laying wasn't confirmed by scientists until 1884. Males have venomous spurs on their hind legs, and the bill senses the tiny electric fields of prey under water.
- When
- 1799
- Where
- New South Wales, Australia
- Witnesses
- Naturalists in Britain
- Status
- Confirmed
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