[plat-i-puh
s, -poos] 
[-pahy] . | a small, aquatic, egg-laying monotreme, Ornithorhynchus anatinus, of Australia and Tasmania, having webbed feet, a tail like that of a beaver, a sensitive bill resembling that of a duck, and, in adult males, venom-injecting spurs on the ankles of the hind limbs, used primarily for fighting with other males during the breeding season. |
| plat·y·pus (plāt'ĭ-pəs) n. pl. plat·y·pus·es A semiaquatic egg-laying mammal (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) of Australia and Tasmania, having a broad flat tail, webbed feet, and a snout resembling a duck's bill. Also called duckbill, duck-billed platypus. [New Latin Platypūs, former genus name, from Greek platupous, flat-footed : platu-, platy- + pous, foot; see ped- in Indo-European roots.] |
"Orig. the generic name, but, having already been given to a genus of beetles, it was in 1800 changed for Ornithorhyncus." [OED]