One zoologist, sure it was fraudulent, tried to remove the “duck’s bill” from the pelt his scissor-marks can still be seen on the original, in London’s British Museum of Natural History. 1 Experts of the day could not reconcile the fact that a duck-billed mammal with webbed feet and claws and a beaver-like tail could really exist. In fact, when the first platypus specimen reached England in 1799 (it was long dead), it was regarded as a hoax, a “high frolic practised on the scientific community by some colonial prankster”. Here is a creature that has a furry body like most mammals, webbed feet and a bill like a duck, and a reproductive system that involves young being hatched from eggs before suckling from their mothers.

The platypus has perplexed scientists since its discovery by Europeans in the late 18th century.The platypus has perplexed scientists since its discovery by Europeans in the late 18 th century. That might well be the conclusion drawn if a platypus fossil were found today, without living examples around to indicate otherwise. The immediate reaction would probably be to declare that here was, clearly, a transitional creature that provided an evolutionary link between mammals and their non-mammalian ancestors. Imagine, if you will, the excited glances exchanged if paleontologists were to uncover a fossil that looked like a mammal, yet also had bird and reptilian features.

Platypus evolution tree