Post #728799

2026-03-22 23:58 UTC

#SerenityInOz— a quiz about Australian stuff —Mon 23 Mar, 2026 (Please boost for reach, and try to CW your answers) ——— i am semiaquatic, i am a monotreme, endemic to eastern Australia, including Tasmania i am the sole living member of my family and genus i use electrolocation to detect prey when I’m under water in 1799 the first naturalists to see my body (in a preserved state) assumed I was a fake or prank i have been a legally protected species since 1912 the Indigenous peoples who know of me and have given me a name in their language are many, the name i am commonly given in australia is derived from greek, and means “flat foot” :questionbox: what is my common name? :questionbox: what SHOULD be the plural of my common name? :questionbox: do you know my genus name? :questionbox: what’s a monotreme? :questionbox: which gender of my species has a venomous spur?

Replies (1)

@maudenificent@aus.social 2026-03-23 12:28

———— gerg@hachyderm.io @pharsicle @sister_ratched @anne_twain @mlazz to Greg, soz, do not speak greek, can only apologise, once again, and to everyone who joined in today, thank you for playing along and helping me learn a thing or three i now understand the origins of mother’s lovely, warm encouragement “get up off yer clacker and do something” ——— amended scores are at the bottom of explanations all my life i have read phrases like “monotreme, egg laying mammal” and assumed that’s what monotreme means. indeed, under platypus, wikipedia says “Together with the four species of echidna, it is one of the five extant species of monotremes, mammals that lay eggs instead of giving birth to live young.” while the wikipedia entry for monotreme says “Monotremata. They are the only mammals still in existence which lay eggs, rather than bearing live young…. however, Greg was the first who drew my attention to this: The name monotreme derives from the Greek words μονός (monós 'single') and τρῆμα (trêma 'hole'), referring to the cloaca.” and the entry for cloaca says: the rear orifice that serves as the only opening for the digestive (rectum), REPRODUCTIVE, and urinary tracts (if present) of many vertebrate animals. [emphasis added] finally, with respect to question B wikipedia says Various dictionaries list "platypuses" or simply "platypus" as the plural. Alternatively, the term "platypi" is also used for the plural, although this is a form of pseudo-Latin; going by the word's Greek roots the plural would be "platypodes" and while your answer to C was, indeed, correct, Greg, a clarification is provided for those up the back who deserve to hear it. to be fair, if we apply the “common usage rule” to the plural, everyone deserves a gong for B As for C: The scientific name Ornithorhynchus anatinus literally means 'duck-like bird-snout',[12] deriving its genus name from the Greek root ornith- (όρνιθ ornith or ὄρνις órnīs 'bird')[22] and the word rhúnkhos (ῥύγχος 'snout', 'beak').[23] Its species name is derived from Latin anatinus ('duck-like') from anas 'duck'.[12][24] The platypus is the sole living representative or monotypic taxon of its family (Ornithorhynchidae) Greg’s amended score is now 🥇🥇🥇🥇🥇 Michael La was late the party, but also gets 🥇🥇🥇🥇🥇 along with a bonus prize for taking so much care with his work everyone else please upgrade your scores accordingly

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