Biology:Platypoda

Short description: Suborder of monotremes

Platypoda Temporal range: Early Cretaceous – Present, 123–0 Ma PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N
Platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus)
Scientific classification
Ornithorhynchidae † Steropodontidae

Platypoda is a suborder of monotremes including the duck-billed platypus and it’s extinct cretaceous ancestors.

The platypus itself is the only extant species of the suborder today.

Taxonomy and evolution

The first member of the platypod suborder to be discovered was the duck-billed platypus in 1798, and everyone thought it was a hoax. A pelt and sketch were sent to Great Britain by Captain John Hunter, the second Governor of New South Wales. George Shaw, who produced the first description of the animal in the Naturalist's Miscellany in 1799, stated it was impossible not to entertain doubts as to its genuine nature, and Robert Knox believed it might have been produced by some Asian taxidermist. It was thought that somebody had sewn a duck's beak onto the body of a beaver-like animal. Shaw even took a pair of scissors to the dried skin to check for stitches.

Platypoda is from Greek πλατύπους (platupous), meaning "flat foot" in English.

A model of the extinct platypod Steropodon at the Australian Museum.

The first platypods appeared 123 million years ago in Victoria, Australia as steropodontids, they were once thought to have been part of ornithorhynchidae but have since been moved to a new family. This is because they had molar teeth inside their jaws unlike the modern platypus and Teinolophos, the oldest of them, didn’t have a beak at all.

References

Wikidata ☰ Q1976132 entry