Photo courtesy of John Bundock drawing by Frederick Nodder, used to illustrate ShawвЂ™s (1799) paperД«ased on fossil evidence, the earliest known ancestors of the modern platypus date from the early Cretaceous Period (100-146 million years ago). Accordingly, we tend to favour вЂњplatypupsвЂќ. However, as baby platypus and echidnas donвЂ™t look very much alike, once they get past the initial post-hatching вЂњjelly-beanвЂќ stage, the use of this term in relation to platypus is somewhat misleading. Taronga Zoo has also used puggle to refer to baby platypuses. The term puggle has been used by the AZA (American Zoological Association) as the generic name for a baby monotreme as joey is the generic name for a baby marsupial. It can be found on interpretive signage about echidnas in wildlife parks around world and on a number of, websites that list names for baby animals. Since 1991 the term has been used this way in many popular and scientific magazines (like GEO, BBC Wildlife, Australian Natural History and Journal of Mammalogy) as well as childrenвЂ™s books. The word вЂњpuggleвЂќ has also sometimes been used although this term was originally applied specifically to baby echidnas. One suggested possible name is a вЂњplatypupвЂќ. There is no official term вЂ“ equivalent to pup or cub вЂ“ to describe a baby platypus. The term вЂњplatypiвЂќ вЂ“ a Latin plural вЂ“ is definitely incorrect. Instead, the preferred plural is either вЂњplatypusвЂќ or вЂњplatypusesвЂќ, depending on which dictionary you consult. However, this has never caught on for some reason (we canвЂ™t imagine why not). When it was later found out that the word вЂњPlatypusвЂќ had already been applied to a group of beetles, the specimen was renamed Ornithorhynchus anatinus, with the first word meaning вЂњbird-like snoutвЂќ.Д«ecause the word вЂњplatypusвЂќ is derived from Greek, its plural should (strictly speaking) be вЂњplatypodesвЂќ. When the specimen proved to be genuine, Shaw named it Platypus anatinus, from the Greek words вЂњplatysвЂќ (meaning flat or broad) and вЂњpousвЂќ (meaning foot) and a Latin word meaning duck-like (вЂњanatinusвЂќ). He even took a pair of scissors to the preserved specimen, expecting to find that the bill had been attached to the rest of the body with stitches. His initial reaction was that this very unusual looking animal was an elaborate hoax. The duckвЂ™s babies had their motherвЂ™s bill and webbed feet and their fatherвЂ™s four legs and handsome brown fur.ДЄ British scientist, Dr George Shaw, published the first scientific description of the platypus in 1799. According to Aboriginal legend, the platypus originated when a young female duck mated with a lonely and persuasive water-rat. Names for the platypus (including вЂњWhat is the plural of platypus?вЂќ)ДЄboriginal people had many different regional names for the platypus, including вЂњboondaburraвЂќ, вЂњmallingongвЂќ and вЂњtambreetвЂќ.вЂњThatвЂ™s Not a Baby Platypus, This Is a Baby Platypus.вЂќ Australian Geographic, 15 June 2021. вЂњTaronga Cares for Tiny Echidna Puggle.вЂќ Taronga Cares for Tiny Echidna Puggle | Taronga Conservation Society Australia. вЂњSnopes Tips: A Guide To Performing Reverse Image Searches.вЂќ Snopes.Com. вЂњOrphaned Puggle at Taronga Wildlife Hospital.вЂќ Orphaned Puggle at Taronga Wildlife Hospital | Taronga Conservation Society Australia. Д®chidna | San Diego Zoo Animals & Plants. вЂњDoes a Viral Photo Show a Real Baby Platypus?вЂќ Snopes.Com. вЂњBeauвЂ™s Spiky Transformation.вЂќ BeauвЂ™s Spiky Transformation | Taronga Conservation Society Australia. Beau can be seen lapping milk from the palm of his caretakerвЂ™s hand in the video below: Monotremes have patches that excrete milk for their young to вЂњlap upвЂќ rather than nurse directly from teats. There are only five known monotremes: four echidna species, and one platypus species, notes the San Diego Zoo. Like platypuses, echidnas are known as monotremes that both lay eggs and nurse their young. Newborn echidnas will spend the first part of their life in their motherвЂ™s pouch, and after a few weeks will then be kept in a burrow for several months with the mother returning every few days to nurse, notes Taronga. A veterinarian nurse and вЂњsurrogate mumвЂќ to Beau said that she had not seen a puggle at such a young age in over 15 years due to the unique lifecycle of echidnas. 23, 2012, that noted Beau was around a month old at the time of his rescue and was found by hikers in New South Wales.

We then searched the archives of the Taronga Conservation Society of Australia website and found a blog post from Oct.

Platypus baby