1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:05,199 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 2 00:00:05,840 --> 00:00:09,840 Speaker 1: Hello and welcome to This Day in History Class, a 3 00:00:09,920 --> 00:00:13,640 Speaker 1: show that d mystifies history one day at a time. 4 00:00:15,280 --> 00:00:18,840 Speaker 1: I'm Gabe Lucier, and today we're talking about the first 5 00:00:18,880 --> 00:00:22,320 Speaker 1: time that the average American ever laid eyes on a real, 6 00:00:22,400 --> 00:00:26,079 Speaker 1: live platypus, and why that encounter proved to be a 7 00:00:26,120 --> 00:00:33,480 Speaker 1: turning point for the credibility of the species. The day 8 00:00:33,880 --> 00:00:39,280 Speaker 1: was July fifteenth, nineteen twenty two. The duck billed platypus 9 00:00:39,479 --> 00:00:42,199 Speaker 1: was exhibited for the first time in the US at 10 00:00:42,200 --> 00:00:45,920 Speaker 1: the Bronx Zoo. It was also the first time that 11 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:48,959 Speaker 1: a live platypus had ever been seen outside of its 12 00:00:49,040 --> 00:00:53,920 Speaker 1: native habitats in Australia and Tasmania. Until then, the rest 13 00:00:53,920 --> 00:00:58,080 Speaker 1: of the world had only seen stuffed specimens, illustrations, or 14 00:00:58,120 --> 00:01:01,320 Speaker 1: the rare photograph, and while the same was true of 15 00:01:01,400 --> 00:01:05,640 Speaker 1: many other exotic animals, the platypus held a special place 16 00:01:05,720 --> 00:01:09,479 Speaker 1: in the public's imagination at the time. The animal had 17 00:01:09,560 --> 00:01:12,720 Speaker 1: only been known to people outside of Australia for a 18 00:01:12,760 --> 00:01:15,840 Speaker 1: little over a century, and the descriptions of it that 19 00:01:15,880 --> 00:01:20,440 Speaker 1: had circulated during that time were almost beyond belief. The 20 00:01:20,560 --> 00:01:24,120 Speaker 1: name platypus is a latinization of the Greek word for 21 00:01:24,240 --> 00:01:29,000 Speaker 1: flat foot platypodia, but flat feet are hardly the animals 22 00:01:29,040 --> 00:01:33,280 Speaker 1: defining characteristic. With a bill like a duck, a tail 23 00:01:33,319 --> 00:01:36,440 Speaker 1: like a beaver, and clawd webbed feet like those of 24 00:01:36,480 --> 00:01:40,200 Speaker 1: an otter, the platypus looks like a real life chimera, 25 00:01:40,680 --> 00:01:44,440 Speaker 1: a bizarre cross between a semi aquatic mammal and a bird. 26 00:01:45,440 --> 00:01:48,560 Speaker 1: Look a little closer, and you'll find they share reptilian 27 00:01:48,640 --> 00:01:54,320 Speaker 1: qualities as well. For instance, platypuses or platypi reproduced by 28 00:01:54,400 --> 00:01:58,360 Speaker 1: laying small, leathery eggs like a snake, and the males 29 00:01:58,400 --> 00:02:01,600 Speaker 1: of the species are born with a sharp, venomous stinger 30 00:02:01,720 --> 00:02:04,760 Speaker 1: on the heels of their back feet a toxic spur 31 00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:08,520 Speaker 1: that the animal wields to fend off competing suitors during 32 00:02:08,600 --> 00:02:13,760 Speaker 1: mating season. These disparate traits aren't a coincidence either. In 33 00:02:13,760 --> 00:02:17,679 Speaker 1: two thousand and eight, scientists deciphered the entire genome sequence 34 00:02:17,720 --> 00:02:20,600 Speaker 1: of the duck billed platypus and discovered that it shares 35 00:02:20,680 --> 00:02:25,680 Speaker 1: DNA with mammals, birds, and reptiles. At some point in 36 00:02:25,720 --> 00:02:28,560 Speaker 1: the species history, it probably could have gone either way, 37 00:02:29,040 --> 00:02:31,640 Speaker 1: but in the end, the platypus landed firmly in the 38 00:02:31,680 --> 00:02:35,240 Speaker 1: mammal camp thanks to its warm blooded body, dense fur 39 00:02:35,360 --> 00:02:38,360 Speaker 1: and hair, and ability to produce milk for its young. 40 00:02:39,360 --> 00:02:43,240 Speaker 1: Although on those last two points the platypus is still 41 00:02:43,280 --> 00:02:48,120 Speaker 1: a standout among mammals. For instance, researchers recently learned that 42 00:02:48,200 --> 00:02:53,280 Speaker 1: platypus fur glows blue and green under ultraviolet light, possibly 43 00:02:53,320 --> 00:02:56,919 Speaker 1: as a way to reduce their visibility to predators. That 44 00:02:57,040 --> 00:03:00,880 Speaker 1: kind of biofluorescence is a rarity in the mammal class 45 00:03:01,080 --> 00:03:04,079 Speaker 1: and is only known to be shared by two other species, 46 00:03:04,360 --> 00:03:08,840 Speaker 1: the flying squirrel and the possum. That said, the way 47 00:03:08,840 --> 00:03:13,560 Speaker 1: the platypus produces milk is even more unique. Unlike all 48 00:03:13,600 --> 00:03:17,920 Speaker 1: other mammals except for fellow egg laying odd ball, the Echidna, 49 00:03:18,400 --> 00:03:23,799 Speaker 1: platypuses don't have nipples. Instead, the females release milk through 50 00:03:23,880 --> 00:03:28,080 Speaker 1: memory gland ducts on their abdomen. The babies then nurse 51 00:03:28,160 --> 00:03:30,640 Speaker 1: by sucking the milk from her fur or from the 52 00:03:30,680 --> 00:03:34,720 Speaker 1: folds of her skin. Of course, not all of those 53 00:03:34,840 --> 00:03:38,760 Speaker 1: unusual traits were known to scientists in the eighteenth century, 54 00:03:39,240 --> 00:03:42,320 Speaker 1: but the platypus's general appearance was enough on its own 55 00:03:42,400 --> 00:03:45,920 Speaker 1: to raise the question of whether the animal actually existed. 56 00:03:46,800 --> 00:03:50,200 Speaker 1: In fact, when the first taxidermid platypus was sent back 57 00:03:50,240 --> 00:03:53,520 Speaker 1: to England from Australia in the late seventeen hundreds, the 58 00:03:53,600 --> 00:03:56,720 Speaker 1: scientists who examined it thought the animal was a hoax. 59 00:03:57,520 --> 00:04:00,800 Speaker 1: They suspected that somebody had sown a ducts onto the 60 00:04:00,800 --> 00:04:04,400 Speaker 1: body of a beaver like mammal, but after carefully searching 61 00:04:04,440 --> 00:04:07,960 Speaker 1: the animal's dried skin, they found no sign of stitches. 62 00:04:09,160 --> 00:04:12,760 Speaker 1: In the first scientific description of the platypus, published in 63 00:04:12,840 --> 00:04:17,720 Speaker 1: seventeen ninety nine, English naturalist George Shaw admitted to being 64 00:04:17,839 --> 00:04:22,160 Speaker 1: puzzled by the creature. It is impossible, he wrote, not 65 00:04:22,240 --> 00:04:25,599 Speaker 1: to entertain some doubts as to the genuine nature of 66 00:04:25,600 --> 00:04:28,520 Speaker 1: the animal, and to surmise that there might have been 67 00:04:28,560 --> 00:04:33,360 Speaker 1: practiced some arts of deception in its structure, some deceptive 68 00:04:33,520 --> 00:04:40,360 Speaker 1: preparation by artificial means. Shaw's skepticism was shared by zoologists 69 00:04:40,400 --> 00:04:42,920 Speaker 1: all over the world for the next one hundred years, 70 00:04:43,400 --> 00:04:46,040 Speaker 1: but at the turn of the twentieth century, the truth 71 00:04:46,120 --> 00:04:50,760 Speaker 1: of the platypus's existence finally began to break through. That 72 00:04:50,960 --> 00:04:55,120 Speaker 1: was largely thanks to the efforts of Australia naturalist Harry Burrell. 73 00:04:55,960 --> 00:04:58,800 Speaker 1: At the time, the animals were plentiful in the wild 74 00:04:59,040 --> 00:05:01,880 Speaker 1: and lived just as they do now in the freshwater 75 00:05:01,960 --> 00:05:06,800 Speaker 1: wetlands along Australia's East coast, but no platypus had yet 76 00:05:06,880 --> 00:05:12,240 Speaker 1: managed to survive in captivity until Burrell created the first platypussary, 77 00:05:12,760 --> 00:05:17,240 Speaker 1: a portable artificial nursery habitat designed to mimic the cozy 78 00:05:17,360 --> 00:05:20,960 Speaker 1: shoreline burrows where the animals lay their eggs and nurse 79 00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:26,240 Speaker 1: their young. Thanks to Burrell's ingenuity, a platypus was exhibited 80 00:05:26,240 --> 00:05:29,120 Speaker 1: for the first time in Australia at the Moore Park 81 00:05:29,240 --> 00:05:34,640 Speaker 1: Zoological Gardens in nineteen ten. Then three years later, Burrell 82 00:05:34,800 --> 00:05:39,640 Speaker 1: was contacted by Ellis Stanley Joseph, an Indian American wildlife 83 00:05:39,640 --> 00:05:42,760 Speaker 1: trader who was interested in bringing a live platypus to 84 00:05:42,800 --> 00:05:47,080 Speaker 1: the United States. Burrell spent the next several years teaching 85 00:05:47,160 --> 00:05:49,719 Speaker 1: Joseph how to care for the animal, and in nineteen 86 00:05:49,800 --> 00:05:53,080 Speaker 1: sixteen they sent a live one back to America aboard 87 00:05:53,080 --> 00:05:58,080 Speaker 1: a boat departing from Sydney. Unfortunately, the little guy didn't 88 00:05:58,080 --> 00:06:01,520 Speaker 1: survive the voyage and it would be another six years before, 89 00:06:01,600 --> 00:06:06,040 Speaker 1: Joseph tried again. Finally, in the summer of nineteen twenty two, 90 00:06:06,480 --> 00:06:08,839 Speaker 1: he worked out a deal with the Bronx Zoo, which 91 00:06:08,880 --> 00:06:12,239 Speaker 1: had long hoped to acquire the mysterious animal for its collection. 92 00:06:13,200 --> 00:06:17,039 Speaker 1: With an assist from Harry Burrell, Joseph secured five male 93 00:06:17,120 --> 00:06:20,680 Speaker 1: platypuses and boarded a boat with them bound for San Francisco. 94 00:06:21,920 --> 00:06:25,240 Speaker 1: Once again, though the voyage proved difficult, and by the 95 00:06:25,240 --> 00:06:28,640 Speaker 1: time the ship arrived in early July, only a single 96 00:06:28,720 --> 00:06:33,840 Speaker 1: platypus had survived. After a brief stopover to procure more 97 00:06:33,920 --> 00:06:38,080 Speaker 1: fresh worms, Joseph and the final platypus resumed their journey 98 00:06:38,120 --> 00:06:40,679 Speaker 1: to New York City and arrived at the Bronx Zoo 99 00:06:40,720 --> 00:06:45,719 Speaker 1: on July fourteenth. The following day, the unnamed platypus was 100 00:06:45,760 --> 00:06:48,960 Speaker 1: exhibited for the first time at a small official gathering 101 00:06:49,000 --> 00:06:52,039 Speaker 1: at the zoo. The New York Times, which was on 102 00:06:52,200 --> 00:06:56,240 Speaker 1: hand for the occasion, hailed the platypus as an extremely 103 00:06:56,440 --> 00:07:01,320 Speaker 1: rare and distinguished visitor from Australia, although the paper reported 104 00:07:01,360 --> 00:07:04,520 Speaker 1: that the animal was too shy to enjoy his welcoming 105 00:07:04,600 --> 00:07:07,560 Speaker 1: party as much as the other guests. He's said to 106 00:07:07,600 --> 00:07:11,960 Speaker 1: have eaten a fresh worm lunch with Gusto, the zoo's 107 00:07:11,960 --> 00:07:15,800 Speaker 1: director at the time, Doctor Hornaday, was thrilled to finally 108 00:07:15,800 --> 00:07:19,440 Speaker 1: meet a platypus in person. He told the press quote, 109 00:07:19,760 --> 00:07:23,480 Speaker 1: the spell of ten thousand years has been broken. The 110 00:07:23,520 --> 00:07:27,080 Speaker 1: most wonderful of all living mammals has been carried alive 111 00:07:27,200 --> 00:07:30,600 Speaker 1: from the insular confines of its far too distant native 112 00:07:30,680 --> 00:07:35,960 Speaker 1: land and introduced abroad. Through a combination of favorable circumstances. 113 00:07:36,120 --> 00:07:38,240 Speaker 1: It has been the good fortune of New York to 114 00:07:38,240 --> 00:07:42,280 Speaker 1: give hospitality to the first platypus that ever left Australia 115 00:07:42,480 --> 00:07:46,400 Speaker 1: and landed on a foreign shore. No matter what evil 116 00:07:46,560 --> 00:07:51,200 Speaker 1: fate may hereafter overtake the platypus, nothing can rid us 117 00:07:51,240 --> 00:07:54,080 Speaker 1: of the fact that New York has looked upon a 118 00:07:54,160 --> 00:07:59,880 Speaker 1: living platypus and found it mighty interesting. Hornaday's ominous men 119 00:08:00,280 --> 00:08:04,280 Speaker 1: of an evil fate proved sadly prescient, as the first 120 00:08:04,320 --> 00:08:08,320 Speaker 1: platypus to reach the US only survived another forty nine 121 00:08:08,400 --> 00:08:12,200 Speaker 1: days in captivity. It was the last time that a 122 00:08:12,240 --> 00:08:15,560 Speaker 1: living platypus would be seen in the United States until 123 00:08:15,600 --> 00:08:19,040 Speaker 1: twenty five years later, when the Bronx Zoo once again 124 00:08:19,240 --> 00:08:24,200 Speaker 1: exhibited platypuses that time a pair named Penelope and Cecil. 125 00:08:25,360 --> 00:08:28,720 Speaker 1: In the years since, only a handful of platypi have 126 00:08:28,800 --> 00:08:31,960 Speaker 1: been allowed to leave Australia, as the species is now 127 00:08:32,040 --> 00:08:36,600 Speaker 1: considered near threatened due to habitat loss. In addition to 128 00:08:36,760 --> 00:08:40,319 Speaker 1: monitoring the export of the animals, the government has also 129 00:08:40,480 --> 00:08:43,800 Speaker 1: tightened regulations to protect the three hundred thousand or so 130 00:08:43,920 --> 00:08:46,560 Speaker 1: adults that are believed to still exist in the wild. 131 00:08:47,240 --> 00:08:50,960 Speaker 1: Anyone caught capturing or killing a platypus could face up 132 00:08:50,960 --> 00:08:55,960 Speaker 1: to several hundred thousand dollars in fines. That high penalty 133 00:08:56,240 --> 00:09:00,000 Speaker 1: seems more than appropriate to help safeguard these little weirdos, 134 00:09:00,640 --> 00:09:03,640 Speaker 1: because now that we know they really do exist, letting 135 00:09:03,640 --> 00:09:07,439 Speaker 1: them slip away would make us look more ridiculous than 136 00:09:07,480 --> 00:09:14,200 Speaker 1: they do. I'm gay, Blues gay, and hopefully you now 137 00:09:14,280 --> 00:09:17,959 Speaker 1: know a little more about history today than you did yesterday. 138 00:09:18,760 --> 00:09:20,480 Speaker 1: If you'd like to keep up with the show, you 139 00:09:20,520 --> 00:09:24,280 Speaker 1: can follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at TDI 140 00:09:24,800 --> 00:09:28,400 Speaker 1: HC Show and if you have any comments or suggestions, 141 00:09:28,600 --> 00:09:30,920 Speaker 1: feel free to send them my way by writing to 142 00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:35,880 Speaker 1: this Day at iHeartMedia dot com. Thanks to Kasby Bias 143 00:09:35,960 --> 00:09:38,520 Speaker 1: for producing the show. And thanks to you for listening. 144 00:09:38,880 --> 00:09:41,840 Speaker 1: I'll see you back here again tomorrow for another day 145 00:09:42,160 --> 00:09:53,319 Speaker 1: in history class.