They might look cute and cuddly, and people may flock to Australian wildlife parks and zoos to see them, but did you know that the platypus can actually give you a poisonous sting?

The platypus is immortalized on the Australian twenty cent piece, has been a mascot for Australian cultural and sporting events (such as the Sydney Olympics in 2000 and the Brisbane Expo in 1988), and is drawn to look all cute and cuddly in cartoons such as Blinky Bill, but in actual fact, this little animal is quite nifty with it’s hind legs. This is where the poisonous spur is located, but only on the male platypus - I guess the females can ward of enemies with a simple glare of their beady eyes.

By the way, there is also no agreed upon plural for the word Platypus - some people call them ‘Platypi’, while others refer to them as ‘Platypusses’, but there isn’t any official term. A few years ago it was suggested a competition should be held Australia wide to come up with a plural for the animal, but the event never went ahead. Shame - ‘Platyplural’ would have been my entry.