Platypus..........

[jerryd]

We have a creek that runs through our block which is constantly flowing, it's also home to a couple of platypus which we occasionally see playing around just as it gets dark :) This makes it near impossible to get any pics as it's either too dark or the flash scares them off .

Since all of the heavy rainfall lately we haven't seen them, but this last week there has been a new arrival. It seems slightly smaller than the regular two so we are not sure if it could be an offspring. In part of the creek I put in a timber beam, buried in the bank each side, with rocks and gravel etc to raise the water level slghtly and give the sound of running water etc.

Now this newcomer has been playing in this area, but the last three nights has been burrowing around the beam and into the bank. Imagine my surprise this morning as the beam has been completely removed and is laying adjacent to the bank :eek: Obviously the flow of water has helped, but is this normal behaviour of a platypus ?? Was it done just so he could continue his journey downstream ??

I find these creatures fascinating to watch, does anybody else get these on their property ??

[abaddonxi]

Wow, lucky you. I've only ever seen a wild Platypus once.

[The ho har's]

And to think we travelled all the way to Eungella Nat Pk near Mackay too see them and we coud have just come over and visited you;):D

How cool.....Jerry you are very lucky to have them....


Mrs hh:angel:

[Sprint]

havent seen one for about 18 years, last one i saw was in franklin in tasmania, family friend had one in thier dam that was semi tame and would happily swim around in broad daylight

[EchiDna]

as a fellow monotreme, perhaps they are digging a nesting burrow into the bank and this what loosened your beam?? their burrows can be 10 or more metres long!

[Savanahkelpy]

I, ve got them in my creek on my property on the Atherton Tablelands. The most i,ve seen at any one time has been 6 of them, (either),possibly several generations or breeding pairs. Its great to sit and quietly spot them, although they are somewhat difficult to photograph, as by the time you are pointing the camera at them, zoomed in, focused and ready to press the button, they,ve dived under the surface. I try to anticipate where they will be surfacing by observing the trail of bubbles and aim the camera in the general area.

[p38arover]

Wow, lucky you. I've only ever seen a wild Platypus once.
Agreed!

I've not been much luckier.

[Landy Smurf]

yes we have one in our part of the creek but they are around where my grandparents are also about 16kms upstream

[scarry]

Wow, lucky you.

X2

And i have never seen one in the wild ever,suppose i will have to look a bit harder..........

[Scouse]

havent seen one for about 18 years, last one i saw was in franklin in tasmania, family friend had one in thier dam that was semi tame and would happily swim around in broad daylightThere's a great spot near Latrobe in Tassie for viewing these in the river.

I saw my first one in NSW a few weeks ago alongside the Coxs River near Lithgow.

[warren9981]

it's also home to a couple of platypus

Is that Platypus or should it be Platypi:D

[JLo]

Is that Platypus or should it be Platypi:D

There is no plural for Platypus. Whether referring to singular or plural it is Platypus.


Cheers
JLo

[BMKal]

A few years back, my parents had the dry cleaners' business in Tumut. Whenever I went there on holidays, I used to go down to a spot on the river bank behind the racecourse for a bit of fishing most mornings.

I often saw platypus swimming past in the current in the early mornings - the river there was always very fast flowing (and cold - wouldn't want to fall in). The platypus seemed to be enjoying themselves rolling around and playing in the fast moving (and quite deep) water.

Like others though - I was never fast enough with a camera.

But it was always a pleasure to see them.

[JLo]

I guess that I am luckier than most as I have studied and trapped them (under license). Great creature.

They are reclaiming some of their old habitat closer to human settlement around Sydney too.

Cheers
JLo

[EchiDna]

There is no plural for Platypus. Whether referring to singular or plural it is Platypus.


Cheers
JLo

a bit like fish?

platypii is legit - if you are describing historic multiple species in the one genus... and given there is currently only one known to be swimming around, chances are I'm being pedantic, but you never know! :)

[numpty]

Great little creatures they are. In the river near where I live there are number of them. Have been paddling kayaks on this river for 17 years and the most platypus we counted on a 5k stretch of river one morning was 13. Not as many around these days though.:( They are actually quite small too, although the male is larger and has a reasonable range in order to serve all of the females he can.;)

[jerryd]

Thanks for all of your responses, this latest one doesn't seem as timid as the original two. I'll try again to get some pictures and post them up, but it is difficult.

Mrs. Ho Har you'll have to come for a drive at Mount Mee Forest one sunday, and then stop off on the way back to see if he's about, normally 5.30 pm onwards ;)

[Bushie]

Never managed to see one in the wild, figure I've heard them or just missed seeing, but never managed to lay my eyes on one.

Platypus/Platipii - no doubt Ron will be along to enlighten us, something to do with Greek or Latin origins. A Platypus however is very much an aussie so maybe neither are applicable :D:D



Martyn

[UncleHo]

G'day Folks :)

When I was at primary school in the 1950's and we were doing Australian native animals and birds we were taught that Platypus was the singular and and Platypi the plural, why do I remember this?? it was set as homework, and the "Smart Kid" in the class got it wrong,:banana: got the cane, [bawl] and his old lady kicked up an awful fuss :soapbox:

It is amazing how children remember things,even if they are now 65+


cheers

[isuzurover]

There is no plural for Platypus. Whether referring to singular or plural it is Platypus.


Cheers
JLo

Not true. Both platypus and platypuses are correct. platypi is incorrect.

platypuses seems to the most widely used plural.

DPIW - Platypus: Introduction to an Iconic Mammal (http://www.dpiw.tas.gov.au/inter.nsf/WebPages/BHAN-53573T?open)

and from w-pedia

There is no universally agreed plural of "platypus" in the English language. Scientists generally use "platypuses" or simply "platypus". Colloquially the term "platypi" is also used for the plural, although this is technically incorrect and a form of pseudo-Latin;[3] the correct Greek plural would be "platypodes" or "platypoda".

UncleHo - was the smart kid right after all?

[loanrangie]

Is that Platypus or should it be Platypi:D

Depends if you have a pastry lid :p , amazing creatures, we had some on our property up on the Murray at Tocumwal and have seen them in the Yarra at Warrandyte before.

[numpty]

Not true. Both platypus and platypuses are correct. platypi is incorrect.

platypuses seems to the most widely used plural.

DPIW - Platypus: Introduction to an Iconic Mammal (http://www.dpiw.tas.gov.au/inter.nsf/WebPages/BHAN-53573T?open)

and from w-pedia


UncleHo - was the smart kid right after all?

This is true.......but........as some of us are older, platypi was considered correct in bygone days, but not now. Many things change over the years, not least the English language.

[62woollybugger]

A couple of years ago I was travelling from Armidale down to the coast via some back roads & camped overnight by a river. In the evening I saw several Platypus swimming around in a large pool. The next morning I put my kayak in to do some fishing & over a couple of hours I had several Platypus come up within a few metres of me, check me out & then swim off.
I have also seen them while fishing on the Woollondilly & Fish rivers

[Zute]

This is a photo of my Mum aged 14, taken somewhere near Albury 1948. It is a wild Platypus that would let her pick it up.

[V8Landy]

For anyone in Vic that wants to see a platapus go to lake Elizabeth

Lake Elizabeth - Scenic attractions - The Great Ocean Road, Victoria, Australia (http://www.visitvictoria.com/displayobject.cfm/objectid.1FFA5367-CB74-40E1-B5F5BC98BA26E1A6/)

They also run tours there(i am not affiliated with them just know of them) I have not done a tour but have been told it is well worth it.

Paddle with the Platypus: Photos (http://www.platypustours.net.au/platypustours.htm)

Cheers Brett

[JohnF]

This is true.......but........as some of us are older, platypi was considered correct in bygone days, but not now. Many things change over the years, not least the English language.

and there are many dramatic changes to English that I am aware of, but will not go into these on this interesting thread.

[JLo]

It is Platypus singular or plural.
The derivation is from Latin and it is this that stops it being pi. It was ignorance that taught you incorrectly and it is not a change in times.

Cheers

[isuzurover]

It is Platypus singular or plural.


As I posted on the previous page - There is no universally agreed plural

Platypus, platypuses and possibly platypode are all correct and acceptable - despite what you may think.

e.g. if we look in the scientific literature, I can find 63 journal articles from 1983-2010 which use Platypuses in the title or abstract.


63. Title: A SEASONAL STUDY OF BODY CONDITION AND WATER TURNOVER IN A FREE-LIVING POPULATION OF PLATYPUSES, ORNITHORHYNCHUS-ANATINUS (MONOTREMATA)
Author(s): HULBERT, AJ; GRANT, TR
Source: AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF ZOOLOGY Volume: 31 Issue: 2 Pages: 109-116 Published: 1983
Times Cited: 14

3. Title: High levels of genetic divergence between Tasmanian and Victorian platypuses, Ornithorhynchus anatinus, as revealed by microsatellite loci
Author(s): Furlan, E; Umina, PA; Mitrovski, PJ, et al.
Source: CONSERVATION GENETICS Volume: 11 Issue: 1 Pages: 319-323 Published: 2010
Times Cited: 0

Platypi and platypode both return no results. Platypus returns 700 papers from 1983-on. However it is possible that some of these papers simply do not use platypuses in the title or abstract, however use it in the main text.

So therefore we can conclude that somewhere between 10 and 100% of platypus researchers consider platypuses to be the correct plural - as do many parks and wildlife type publications.

As we have established - many schools incorrectly taught "platypi" as a bastardised latin form....

[EchiDna]

honestly guys, the correct spelling (or not) of the plural form is quite irrelevant - we should be talking about the amazing creatures themselves as they are truely incredible - venomous egg laying mammals - what a weird, weird, weird example of the animal kingdom!!

[JLo]

there is no universally agreed plural because it cannot be done in Latin from which the the word is derived.

Tom Grant would agree.

It is not what I think it is what I know having studied the the animal and written about it.

Cheers
JLo

[isuzurover]

there is no universally agreed plural because it cannot be done in Latin from which the the word is derived.

Tom Grant would agree.

It is not what I think it is what I know having studied the the animal and written about it.

Cheers
JLo

Actually - platypus, like octopus is greek, not latin. Platy meaning "flat" and pus meaning "foot" - with octopus of course meaning 8-footed. In greek the correct plural would be ode(s) - so many language experts argue that this is the correct plural. e.g. octopodes - which appears in the webster and oxford dictionary as a correct plural. The pi ending is a latin plural for a greek word - which is why it is considered incorrect. Platypuses and octopuses is however easier and more commonly used in english, so for that reason they have become the preferred plurals.

Tom Grant uses platypuses - which you argue is incorrect. How many journal papers do you have compared to him???


honestly guys, the correct spelling (or not) of the plural form is quite irrelevant - we should be talking about the amazing creatures themselves as they are truely incredible - venomous egg laying mammals - what a weird, weird, weird example of the animal kingdom!!

Well as a fellow "venomous egg laying mammal" you are biased :p

But seriously - I agree - however the (english) language seems almost as weird at times (as do the insane conspiracy theory ramblings of some people on here... )



Anyway - back on topic - I was lucky enough to see a few platypuses in the northern nsw area about 10 years ago. I was surprised by how small they were.
In the National Museum in canberra there is a blanked made from platypus pelts sewn together - about 42!!! Apparently it was quite common for early settlers to make these - the poor platypuses must have been plentiful back then.

When we were in tassie we tried hard to find some in some likely spots, but no luck. Saw heaps of echidnas though!

While canoeing in pemberton (WA) we saw what we thought was a platypus swimming underwater...http://www.fotosearch.com/bthumb/UNF/UNF878/u12420225.jpg

but it turned out to be a musk duck
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/04/1389.jpg\

(yes I know platypus aren't endemic to WA - but neither are a host of east coast bird species which have been released here).

[EchiDna]

Well as a fellow "venomous egg laying mammal" you are biased :p

But seriously - I agree - however the (english) language seems almost as weird at times (as do the insane conspiracy theory ramblings of some people on here... )

I aint venomous, just a tad prickly at times :)

mind you I was unaware of this little factoid from wikipedia: Male echidnas have a four-headed penis. During mating, the heads on one side "shut down" and do not grow in size; the other two are used to release semen. The heads used are swapped each time the mammal copulates :eek::eek::eek:

[isuzurover]

I aint venomous, just a tad prickly at times :)

mind you I was unaware of this little factoid from wikipedia: Male echidnas have a four-headed penis. During mating, the heads on one side "shut down" and do not grow in size; the other two are used to release semen. The heads used are swapped each time the mammal copulates :eek::eek::eek:

I am staggered that you didn't know... never looked down there, or just deformed??? :D

Hmm - I thought echidnas had venomous spines as well - thanks...