The Platypus was first described in 1799 in Shaw's naturalist's Miscellany along with the koala, Kangaroo, wombat and emu. The most curious was the platypus. Since its first discovery there has been much debate as to whether it is a mammal and how it should be classified. <Tab/>The platypus is a primitive mammal that has many features that separate it from other mammals-it lays eggs, there is an absence of true …showed first 75 words of 1014 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1014 total…history. <Tab/>To add to these concerns, today's platypuses persist only in the permanent river systems of eastern Australia, sometimes in remnant rainforests but more often in the rivers that drain the open forests of the great divide. With humans abusing their the chemistry of the waterways with fertilisers and other noxious substances and deforestation and pollution of the rivers watersheds its candle may be in imminent danger of going out.