Bill the Platypus

I’m Bill, the extreme monotreme—but you probably know me as a platypus! A platypus is a mammal. That means we have backbones, hair, and a large brain, and females have milk glands, like other mammals. But, unlike most other mammals, monotreme females lay eggs. That’s right! I hatched out of a soft, marble-sized egg (like a lizard egg).

And I’m extreme because the platypus is one of the craziest creatures that God made. Get a load of this! I have:

• fur like a mammal (and it glows in UV light!),
• spurs like a rooster,
• venom like a snake,
• a tail like a beaver,
• webbed feet like a goose,
• and a beak like a duck (with sensors to help me find my food in the murky water)!

You may be thinking, “Uhhhhh, what?” I know! I’m a pretty unique creature. But, you know what, so are you! Every person across the globe—young, old, healthy, sick—is unique and of infinite value to God, so much so that Jesus came and died on the cross for them!

When we see someone else, young and old, healthy and sick, we should be reminded that they’re a unique creation of God and loved by him. That should spur us to treat them with kindness and respect.

So keep this verse in mind: “And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them” (Luke 6:31).

Platypus Classification

Class: Mammalia
Order: Monotremata
Family: Ornithorhynchidae
Genus: Ornithorhynchus
Species: anatinus
Lifespan: 12–17 years

For More Information:

• Platypus
• Platypus Playground

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