A platypus is a small furry animal from Australia. It lives in rivers and looks as if someone built it from spare parts: a soft beak like a duck, webbed feet, and a flat tail. It lays eggs, which is rare for an animal that also makes milk, and the mother still feeds her young that way. Though actually, she has no nipples; the milk comes out on her skin and the babies lick it. Male platypuses have a spur on the back leg that can sting with venom — enough to hurt a person badly, though it does not usually kill. The animal is real, even if it looks like a joke. Scientists group it with a tiny set of egg-laying mammals. In English the usual plural is platypuses.