(n) artificial habitat for keeping and breeding platypuses

Another platypus first! All the behind-the-scenes action is revealed for the first time in Healesville Sanctuary's new Platypusary. Within an amazing golden egg-shaped dome, discover a world of platypus pools, secret tunnels, digging mounds, feeding tanks, sleeping and nesting chambers. Meet the Keepers (daily at 1.15pm) and see first hand what's involved in the art of platypus care and breeding - lifting the lid on this most secretive Australian.

http://www.zoo.org.au/healesville/platypus_hs.htm

Cool.
I can't help thinking of them as a practical joke by God.

...a practical joke by God.

Which, the creature or the ingrish ranguage?

It's a mental image I have of God chuckling to Gabriel "I can't wait till Darwin sees the duckbilled platypus."

Did Darwin ever go to Australia? I thought he went to the Galapagos islands? Would he ever have seen a duck-billed platypus even in a zoo?

Bingley

edit "till the Darwinists see"
I did think about it Bingley but figured that with a twisted mind llike mine no-one would expect accuracy

So a platypus walks into a pharmacy . . .

And why would Darwin have problems with a platypus? It's actually a quite nice example of a transitional species.

If Wikipedia is correct, Darwin both saw and commented on the platypus.

Darwin both saw and commented on the platypus.

And was there at the killing of one:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/darwin/diary/1836.html

always thought platypus *sounded like such an *ugly word.

But with just two syllables it's turned into such a lovely word to hear and say.

Quote:

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just two syllables

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who? where? huh?