Platypuses do not have nipples. Also their right ovary is not functional

[MrMatt]

The plural would be platapi, not platapii nor platapuses nor platapusses.

For a noun ending in -us you drop the -us and add an -i to pluralize. This is coming from a guy who took latin for a year in university, so take it for what it's worth.

actually it's not; read the wikipedia article. Platypii or any form like that is actually psuedo-latin.

"There is no universally agreed plural of "platypus" in the English language. Scientists generally use "platypuses" or simply "platypus". Colloquially the term "platypi" is also used for the plural, although this is technically incorrect and a form of pseudo-Latin;[3] the correct Greek plural would be "platypodes" or "platypoda"


I like platypodes.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

The plural would be platapi, not platapii nor platapuses nor platapusses.

For a noun ending in -us you drop the -us and add an -i to pluralize. This is coming from a guy who took latin for a year in university, so take it for what it's worth.

from wiki:
"There is no universally agreed plural of "platypus" in the English language. Scientists generally use "platypuses" or simply "platypus". Colloquially the term "platypi" is also used for the plural, although this is technically incorrect and a form of pseudo-Latin"

source:
http://www.platypus.asn.au/

 

[JohnOfSheffield]

"Although possessing mammary glands, the Platypus lacks teats. Instead, milk is released through pores in the skin. There are grooves on her abdomen that form pools of milk, allowing the young to lap it up"

"The female Platypus has a pair of ovaries but only the left one is functional"

Platypii

When god figured that one out, WTF was he thinking?

 

[JohnOfSheffield]

Kids born with extra limbs IS evolution.

Its like saying water messed up because its wet.

Well, to be honest, evolution does what it does and it's so random that by itself we would have a planet of one legged platypuses that can only survive on sulfide.

Natural selection is what brings order into the equation, all those strange things that evolution does are evaluated through that process and by that process only beneficial evolution succeds.

(although sometimes when i read this forum i realise that natural selection can go oh so very wrong)

 

[SunSamurai]

Well, to be honest, evolution does what it does and it's so random that by itself we would have a planet of one legged platypuses that can only survive on sulfide.

Natural selection is what brings order into the equation, all those strange things that evolution does are evaluated through that process and by that process only beneficial evolution succeds.

(although sometimes when i read this forum i realise that natural selection can go oh so very wrong)

Yup. Goes back to my original statement. They were in the middle of some crazy-ass evolutionary change (where one overy and pooling baby-milk was somehow a survival trait)

 

[JohnOfSheffield]

Yup. Goes back to my original statement. They were in the middle of some crazy-ass evolutionary change (where one overy and pooling baby-milk was somehow a survival trait)

I'd say that they didn't survive because or despite those traits but rather because of other traits, Platypuses (and yes, that is one of the several correct forms to say it) do have some other traits that might have helped them survive.

The one ovary and milk pooling is most probably later additions, in a couple of thousand years they will have two functioning ovaries and some nuts will say that it's how god created them.

If you are interested you can look up intermediate states, one of their closest cousins (though looking nothing like them) are whales.

Pop question for this day... Who are closer related, the Iguana and the Herring or the Whale and the Shark?

 

[SunSamurai]

Possibly, but typically an organ starts out functioning and become dysfunctional through lack of use. They not the other way around.

 

[PlasmaBomb]

Old people fall wrong all the time.

Checkmate.

Good day sir!

I SAID GOOD DAY

So what you just said was...

"old people fall"... therefore gravity is working as normal...

Fail.

 

[SunSamurai]

So what you just said was...

"old people fall"... therefore gravity is working as normal...

Fail.

Yup, I guess it went over my head.

 

[JohnOfSheffield]

Possibly, but typically an organ starts out functioning and become dysfunctional through lack of use. They not the other way around.

No, that wouldn't be typical, typically transitionals that have survived do have traits in both directions (from and to) and when it comes to reproduction (which is obviously vital to a species survival) it doesn't change within that species.

In the case of the platypus it has more to do with biological neccessity than anything else.

I don't know what "they not the other way around" really means though but i'm guessing you meant to say "It does not work the other way around" which would still be wrong but at least the grammar would be correct.

 

[Strk]

AND they're venomous.

Only the male platypus is venomous.

 

[JohnOfSheffield]

Only the male platypus is venomous.

And only when they are young.

 

[alkemyst]

The plural would be platapi, not platapii nor platapuses nor platapusses.

For a noun ending in -us you drop the -us and add an -i to pluralize. This is coming from a guy who took latin for a year in university, so take it for what it's worth.

actually there is no accepted plural for this. You are more likely to see platypuses than anything else...platypus is not latin based, it's greek so "i" doesn't apply.

I was just a zoology major...

 

[caddlad]

Lack of nipple=platypus disappoint

 

[SunSamurai]

No, that wouldn't be typical, typically transitionals that have survived do have traits in both directions (from and to) and when it comes to reproduction (which is obviously vital to a species survival) it doesn't change within that species.

In the case of the platypus it has more to do with biological neccessity than anything else.

I don't know what "they not the other way around" really means though but i'm guessing you meant to say "It does not work the other way around" which would still be wrong but at least the grammar would be correct.

Species growing new organs is the norm? Im not talking about what was, Im reffering to what is. What they already have and a tendancy twordy effeciantcy that slowly gets rid of uneeded things.

If they have a ovary that is not functional, that would in no way be an evolutionary advantage natural selection would have a positive effect on. Infact, if anything, it would be a negative and a liability. Thus it really sounds like it served a function at one time, but does not anymore because it is not an advantage.

This goes back to my original statement again about environments. It is possible that natural selection has turned the ovary off/on in the last who knows how many years after it was grown in the first place.

I think the misunderstanding comes from you looking further back in the process than I was