Placing the Platypus

The platypus had baffled European scientists ever since the first specimen had arrived in England in 1798. Of course, the platypus looked as if it should have been a mammal. Based on its fur, beak and webbed feet, Shaw - who gave it the name Platypus anatius - felt confident enough to class it with sloths, anteaters and other toothless mammals. The more closely the platypus was studied, the deeper the mystery grew. Based on his work, the French naturalist Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire argued that, since the platypus didn't have mammary glands, it 'clearly' wasn't a mammal and should therefore be included in a completely new class of vertebrates, which he charmingly dubbed the Monotremata. Clearly, the picture was too confused for any definite conclusions to be reached; but suddenly, the platypus was looking a lot more like a mammal than a short time before. Depending on which, the platypus would either be a mammal or something else.