A momth or so ago our ocular pathology laboratory received two eyes from the platypus submitted by one our esteemed collaborators. It was interesting (at least to me). What kind of eyes does a platypus have? Can they see well? I knew they were mammals (I think) but were able to lay eggs. I learned that they are found only in Australia, are endangered and lactate. So, for my loyal readers, all 6 of them, I want to embark on a strange journey to share what I learn about the platypus. I'm finding politics boring and it's the All Star break in baseball so the Cubs are resting, Poodledoc, Jr is busy making art. So thought I'd start off with some poetry and see where it takes me....
The Platypus
I like the duck-billed platypus
Because it is anomalous.
I like the way it raises its family
Partly birdly, partly mammaly.
I like its independent attitude.
Let no one call it a duck-billed platitude.
by Ogden Nash
Platypus
The first Ornithorhynchus
Confused early thinkers.
They said, 'Oh good lord,
It's an obvious fraud!
Someone has stuck
The front end of a duck
(With the skill of a weaver)
To part of a beaver.
It's no less fake
Than the mermaids they make
From a fish and an ape-
A rediculous jape!
We now know it's real
Though i can't help but feel
That from tail tip to muzzle,
It is still a puzzle.
by R Strahan
(Copied from "The Incomplete Book of Australian Mammals")
3 comments:
I'm so glad you didn't post the lyrics to Green Day's song called Platypus. I ran across the words when I was researching monotremes.
Foul.
Green Day? I can only imagine.
Reearching monotremes? We must talk.
Uh-oh. Extreme monotremes? Sounds dangerous.
"Eyes of the Platypus" sounds like it should be something -- the name of a scholarly book? A gourmet dessert? A weather pattern off the coast of Australia? The theme song from a bad boxing movie? So many options ...
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