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001 78386
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010 _a27026965
040 _aUtSlPG
041 7 _aen
_2iso639-1
050 4 _aQL
100 1 _aBurrell, Harry,
_d1873-1945
245 1 4 _aThe platypus
264 1 _aSalt Lake City, UT :
_bProject Gutenberg,
_c2026
300 _a1 online resource :
_bmultiple file formats
336 _atext
_btxt
_2rdacontent
337 _acomputer
_bc
_2rdamedia
338 _aonline resource
_bcr
_2rdacarrier
500 _aRelease date is 2026-04-07
508 _adeaurider and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)
520 _a"The platypus" by Harry Burrell is a natural history monograph written in the early 20th century. It presents a comprehensive, field-based account of the animal’s discovery, classification debates, anatomy, senses, habits, reproduction, nesting, range, captivity, and conservation, supported by photographs and plates. The opening of this monograph sets out Burrell’s approach and scope: nearly twenty years of first-hand observation, reliance on living or fresh specimens, and illustrations left untouched, with the work aimed at general readers. It then traces the animal’s entry into science—early skins sent to Britain, Shaw’s 1799 description and doubts, and the swift eruption of controversies over what the creature was and how it reproduced. Burrell summarizes the long dispute about its zoological position (from “new tribe” or separate class to a mammalian sub-class) and the parallel egg-laying debate, including misreports, misidentified “eggs,” and strong opposing claims, before noting Caldwell’s late confirmation of oviparity. He contrasts fanciful or secondhand tales with the scarcity of early local accounts, and situates monotremes as primitive yet highly specialized survivors. The narrative then sketches key external features linked to life in water—webbed forepaws, a flattened tail, and especially the soft, ultra-sensitive bill used for underwater foraging with eyes and ears closed—alongside observations on eyelid–ear closures, clumsy terrestrial gait, horny grinding plates, cheek-pouches likely used to carry grit for mastication, and a sensory skin flap. The section closes by recounting first European encounters near the Hawkesbury, the spread of specimens through British and French hands, and a concise review of the major scientific arguments that shaped early understanding. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
534 _pOriginally published:
_cSydney: Angus & Robertson Limited, 1927
653 _aPlatypus
856 4 _uhttps://archive.org/details/platypusitsdisco0000harr
856 4 0 _uhttps://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/78386
999 _c119106
_d119106