A Platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus), 19th century

One of several living species of Monotreme, the unusual appearance of this egg-laying, duck-billed, beaver-tailed, otter-footed mammal, with the male having a venomous spur on the hind foot, baffled European naturalist when they first encountered it, so much so that the first scientists that examined a preserved specimen in 1799 judged it as a hoax.

Although the present platypus did not belong to Winston Churchill, it is interesting to note in March of 1943, during the 2^nd world war, Churchill requested 6 platypuses be sent to him, to join his colourful menagerie: the request had political motives and the Australian authorities agreed to send only 1. Churchill’s namesake Winston never made it to the platypussary that had been carefully constructed for him. The crossing was going well, and Winston was always “lively and ready for his food”. However, on the 6^th of November just four days from Liverpool, the boat carrying him named the Port Phillip suffered a submarine attack. It was noted that possibly the event overstimulated the electro sensory receptors in Winston’s bill. Winston was affectionately preserved through taxidermy and sat on Churchill’s desk for the remainder of the war years.