Tiny-headed, ancient ‘Platypus’ with stegosaurus back plates unearthed

FoxNews.com/Science ^ | Jan 25, 2019 | Laura Geggel Senior Writer | LiveScience

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Scientists found the 250-million-year-old fossil of this prehistoric "platypus" in China's Jialingjiang Formation.
(L. Cheng et al, Scientific Reports, Creative Commons 4.0)

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Duck-billed Platypus

[sauropod]

Cool!

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Duck-billed Platypus

The platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus), sometimes referred to as the duck-billed platypus, is a semiaquatic egg-laying mammal endemic to eastern Australia, including Tasmania.

Together with the four species of echidna, it is one of the five extant species of monotremes, the only mammals that lay eggs instead of giving birth to live young.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platypus

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Looks like the design committee woke up with severe hangovers on a Monday morning.

[DannyTN]

The unusual appearance of this egg-laying, duck-billed, beaver-tailed, otter-footed mammal baffled European naturalists when they first encountered it, with some considering it an elaborate hoax. It is one of the few species of venomous mammals: the male platypus has a spur on the hind foot that delivers a venom capable of causing severe pain to humans.

Now with Stegosaurus plates!!

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"The end-Permian mass extinction (EPME) led to reorganization of marine predatory communities, through introduction of air-breathing top predators, such as marine reptiles.

We report two new specimens of one such marine reptile, Eretmorhipis carrolldongi, from the Lower Triassic of Hubei, China, revealing superficial convergence with the modern duckbilled platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus), a monotreme mammal. ..."

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-37754-6

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[Opinionated Blowhard]

The platypus gets more and more bizarre all the time. It makes me wonder if God was stoned when He created it.

[reed13k]

The Platypus has always been my favorite animal. So unique. I have a stuffed animal I picked up in Australia on deployment that I have kept on my desk or in my car for nearly 30 years - named it Plato.

There is a hilarious skit - I’ll have to go find it - about God creating the platypus with leftover parts and saying something like “hey Darwin screw you” or “this will really mess with’em”.

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[Red Badger]

It is finds like this that make me think that some ‘dinosaurs’ actually survived up until prehistoric times, when man could see them. The ‘dragon’ mythological as it is is really a ‘dinosaur’ that lived among men, who hunted it to extinction, then generations of embellishments added ‘breathing fire’ and flying wings’ etc.

Tales of the ‘dragon’ is in every civilization’s remote past. There must have been a common element....................

[reed13k]

found it - Robin Williams:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nc2JBtrPpIk

[Buckeye McFrog]

Sounds like the Ford Edsel of evolution.

[GreenLanternCorps]

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[Doogle]

Pelosi...

[DannyTN]

yeah but cooler

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[Verginius Rufus]

"Monotreme" is from the Greek roots mono- "one" and trema (spelled with an eta) "hole" or "aperture."

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks ETL.