"Of all the Mammalia yet known it seems the most extra-ordinary in its conformation; exhibiting the perfect resemblance of the beak of a Duck engrafted on the head of a quadruped. So accurate is the similitude, that, at first view, it naturally excites the idea of some deceptive preparation by artificial means; the very epidermis, proportions, serratures, manner of opening, and other particulars is the beak of a shoveler, or other broad-billed species of duck, presenting themselves to the view; nor is it without the most minute and rigid examination that we can persuade ourselves of its being the real beak or snout of a quadruped."
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Original Language: English
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George Shaw, "The Duck-Billed Platypus, Platypus anatinus", The Naturalist's Miscellany, Vol. 10, No. 84 (1799), p. 384
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Platypus
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Platypus
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