[UA] Our cousin called monotreme, dead uncle allotheria

[Nick Wedig]

>Well, not really. That's a very simplistic view of the platypus - their 
>"birdlike" qualities (a bill and egg-laying reproduction) are more reptilian 
>than anything else. Males have a poisonous talon on their hindclaws, which 
>is certainly not birdlike. Otherwise I guess they'd be a lot like otters 
>(never seen an otter, though).

even if the platypus is half-reptilian, rather than half bird (I know, I'm over simplifying), it still straddles the line between mammal and non-mammal, and thus the association.

>How would the other two species of monotremes (two types of echidna) 
>associate with the Mystic Hermaphrodite? Echidnas are spiny little balls of 
>ant-eating fun that also lay eggs. They're somewhat more comon than 
>platypuses (had an echidna wander into my school when I was a kid) and 
>unlike the poisonous-taloned platypus, pretty much harmless.

I imagine that echidnas would be associated with some other archetype... perhaps the Monster or the Freak (not really intending to insult the creatures but to associate with the monster of greek myth) which still puts it in a different category than other mammals.  Then again, everything I know about echidnas comes from video games, greek myths and They Might Be Giants.

Mr. teapot
briefly attended a college whose mascot was a platypus

____________________________________________________
FREE Disinformation E-book - http://www.disinfo.com

_______________________________________________
UA mailing list
UA at lists.uchicago.edu
http://lists.uchicago.edu/mailman/listinfo/ua