THE CURIOUS PLATTER
When the platypus was first brought to London in 1798, zoologists at the British Museum thought someone was playing a joke on them. It was astounding enough that a furry animal sporting a duck�s bill should have webbed feet as claws, but when it later emerged that the extraordinary creature not only laid eggs but also suckled its young, several scientists had to have a sit down.
In 1986, however nearly two centuries later, a German scientist called Henning Scheich made an even more starting discovery. Platypuses like eating torch batteries.
Suspecting that sensors in the bill enable the platypus to detect minute electrical charges given off by its prey, Scheich conducted experiments in which he invited a number of platypuses to choose from a menu of fresh live shrimp and fresh live torch batteries. The platypuses quickly demonstrated their gastronomic preference swallowing the batteries whole. |
