A Grammatical Dictionary of Botanical Latin

Platypus (Eng.noun), pl. platypuses: > Gk. platypus,-podis (s.m.III), abl.sg. platypode, nom. & acc. pl. platypodes [> Gk. platypous,-podis (s.m.III), flat-footed, > platy-, wide, broad, flat + pous foot]; see -pus, gen.sg. -podis (s.m.III);

1. (insect) generic name (capitalized) Platypus,-podis (s.m.III), q.v., nom. & acc.pl. platypodes, a genus of weevils, the Platypus beetle; the wood-boring ambrosia beetle.

2. also (lower case), English name of the mammalian Duckbill, Duck-billed Platypus, with a wide foot, i.e. bill [> Gk. platy-, broad, wide + pous,-podis, foot, in this case, a bill or snout], family Ornithorhynchidae; Order Monotremata: “a small aquatic mammal (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) of the order Monotremata of southern and eastern Australia and Tasmania having a fleshy bill resembling that of a duck…” (WIII); called also duckbill, duckmole. Family Ornithorhynchidae; Order Monotremata.

Ornithorhynchus anatinus = Duck-billed Platypus, lit. 'duck-like bird-snout', deriving its genus name > Gk. ornith-, bird + rhynchos, snout, or bill, and deriving its species name from Latin anatinus ('duck-like'): the Duck-billed Platypus, Eng. pl. platypuses.