Pondering the Platypus

A Closer Look at a Curious Critter

From translucent frogs to flying squirrels to scaly pangolins, the world abounds with amazing and fascinating animals. Amid the blaze of wonder paddles the platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus), a fascination to the creationist and a befuddling ache to the theory of evolution. Let’s dive deeper into the truth about this strange animal and discover how perfectly it is suited to its environment, proofs that it couldn’t have evolved, and the ways it proclaims the majesty of its Creator.

Perfect for the Place

The platypus is found in Australian streams and the surrounding islands. Equipped with a waterproof suit, webbed feet, and a beaver’s tail, the platypus is an excellent swimmer. He sports two small black eyes and an over-sized duck’s bill. While the platypus is still very much in study, scientists have discovered special sensors on his bill. Since he closes his eyes and ears while in the water, they speculate that these sensors are his main tool in finding food. Somewhat similar to a bat’s echolocation, the platypus uses his bill – lined with roughly 40,000 electroreceptor skin cells – to detect subtle electric fields in its prey. The platypus slurps up worms and aquatic invertebrates. Other menu favorites also include beetles and cicadas.

A good bed is important to the deep-sleeping platypus. Its den is often made in creek banks or root snarls.

The platypus is not often on land, probably because it uses up to thirty percent more energy when plodding clumsily on shore than when swimming. Obviously, the platypus was made for the waves.

Evading Evolution

The heartbeat of Charles Darwin’s theory is small changes over a long period of time, resulting in drastic outcomes. However, applying such a theory to the platypus presents serious problems. For example, the platypus lays soft, leathery eggs, yet sweats milk (no teats, just “milk glands”). What would become of the baby platypuses in the hundreds – or millions – of years while the mother’s glands transitioned to having the ability to produce milk?

Or take the furry coat. Thick and glossy, it keeps the swimmer warm and dry as he searches for food. In the frigid waters of the Tasmanian streams, would he have survived in a waterlogged coat prior to it becoming waterproof? In addition to a cold environment, the platypus also has a remarkably low body temperature, registering at 89.6 degrees Fahrenheit. His waterproof slicker is essential to his survival.

Those are just two reasons why platypus couldn’t have evolved; we haven’t even explored his lack of a stomach, disturbingly deep sleep cycles, elaborate respiratory system, and irreducibly-complex genes. 

Clever Creation

To the evolutionist, the platypus is a collage of confusion. “Perhaps it is related closely to birds,” some say, noting its ten sex chromosomes. “Cousin of the beaver,” others affirm, pointing to its tail and fur. Still others scratch their heads and question, “Why the mish-mash? Why such a conglomeration of critters that have no tie together?” Is the platypus a mistake? Left-overs that got thrown together?

In spite of the theorizing of the evolutionist and the amazed wondering of the creationist, it’s clear that the platypus fulfills perfectly the exact thing for which it was designed. The borrowed features don’t signify a careless throw-together job any more than a painter’s characteristic style means poor creativity. Au contraire, only a wonderfully brilliant Mind could have designed with such coherence and fluidity this amazing animal called the platypus.

The platypus is just one example of animals that proclaim a message so much bigger than themselves. Diving deep into that message will result in greater appreciation of God’s creativity and majesty. Man’s wisdom and theories fall in the dust while the works of God continue to praise His name. Let’s tune our ears to hear them!