Object Status:
Unlocated
Accession Date:
January 8, 1808
Primary Source Reference:
Poulson's American Daily Advetiser, 8 Jan 1808
Additional Source Text:
"An extraordinary animal from New Holland, which seems to be a connecting link between the Duck and the Otter. Very few of these animals have been carried to Europe -- this is the only one in America."
Notes:
The platypus is a semiaquatic, egg-laying mammal endemic to eastern Australia, including Tasmania. It is the sole living representative or monotypic taxon of its family and genus. Peale's description is indeed accurate, as the platypus lays eggs like a duck and has feet like an otter's. It had only been discovered about ten years before the Peale Museum's acquisition.
Specimen Type:
Dead/preserved
Current Scientific Name
Ornithorhynchus anatinus
