Why is it called a platypus if it is amix of a duck and abeaver shouldn't it be called a Ducver??Or a Beauck??
2006-06-09 11:11:55 · 20 answers · asked by jkamstra2005 2 in Pets ➔ Other - Pets
The scientific name Ornithorhynchus is derived from ("ornithorhynkhos"), which literally means "bird snout" in Greek, and anatinus means "duck-like". The common name is Latin platypus, derived from the Greek words πλατύς ("platys", flat) and πους ("pous", foot), meaning "flat foot" and was originally given to it as a Linnaean genus name, but it was discovered to already belong to the wood-boring ambrosia beetle (genus Platypus).
2006-06-09 11:16:25 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
Good question one I thought about awhile ago but it gave he a headache I gave it up. I pass it on too you finish what was starter. here are some links too help you out. lol Have fun :)
Hint It deals with the word origins of Platypus.
2006-06-09 18:25:34 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you think that's bad you see his official scientific name.
(Ornithorhynchus anatinus)
"Platypus is from the Greek platys meaning broad and pous meaning foot, referring to the animal's webbed foot." :
Heres a really cute picutre of the little guy:
http://www.genevaschools.org/austinbg/class/gray/platypus/
2006-06-09 18:17:47 · answer #3 · answered by Yarnlady_needsyarn 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't think it's actually a cross between a duck and a beaver, it just looks that way. But even so, it would be yet another example of a name that makes no sense (like guinnea pig -- they're not related to pigs; meerkats aren't cats; we sometimes say "koala bears" but they're not bears; we drive on a parkway and park in a driveway; etc., etc. etc...
2006-06-09 18:18:26 · answer #4 · answered by partlycloudy 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because it's not a mix of a duck and a beaver. The word means flat footed in Greek.
2006-06-09 18:18:13 · answer #5 · answered by James 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it's just called that. the person who goes around coming up with names for things went, "hmm. platypus. sounds good to me." Or maybe not.
2006-06-09 18:14:39 · answer #6 · answered by nothingis_sound 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yeah
2006-06-09 18:22:40 · answer #7 · answered by bam chicka wa wa ;] 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's better then being called a Ornithorhynchus anatinus. Too long. LOL. Makes you wonder though!
2006-06-09 18:15:39 · answer #8 · answered by AhhBoo 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Its name comes from the Greek word platupous, which means flat-footed. (It has flat webbed feet, part of its duck-like qualities.)
2006-06-09 18:18:06 · answer #9 · answered by just♪wondering 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
seriously....im wit ya sista. i also beleive a man duck or Drake should be called a MAN DUCK. ya hear what im sayin' sista. and a male chicken o' Rooster, should be called a MAN CHICKEN. itz very very cunfuzzing stuff, ya hear wha' im sayin'.
2006-06-09 18:38:16 · answer #10 · answered by luvvy2duvvy 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋