Sunday 24 April 2016

Why 19th-Century Naturalists Didn't Believe In The Platypus

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In his laboratory study in 1799, biologist George Shaw stared down at his new specimen in disbelief. It was like nothing he had seen before: the creature had the body of a furry brown cat, four short legs and sharp claws over webbed feet; the tail of a beaver, but the beak of a duck.

Shaw had met his first platypus, and did not for a moment believe it was possibly real. Still, he couldn't find any evidence that it was a fake, either.

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