"Australian duck-mole," 1799, from Modern Latin, from Greek platypous, literally "flat-footed," from platys "broad, flat" (from PIE root *plat- "to spread") + pous "foot," from PIE root *ped- "foot." Originally the genus name, but entomologists had given it earlier to a genus of beetles; it was retained for the species after the genus name was changed in 1800 to Ornithorhyncus. OED has Australian platypussary (1945) "enclosure in which platypuses are kept."
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