Platypuses: they're venomous, they sweat milk, and turns out they glow in the dark too

It isn’t now. :wink:

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Therefore, if I follow, -podes is not mandated. This means that the plural is in dispute, so -podes is mandated.

Thanks for clearing that up.

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Science pedantry appreciated. It looks like you waited a long time to post, but welcome to the bbs

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Welcome aboard, comrade! There is always room for another pedant around here.

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This is actually technically correct (the least entertaining form of correct) since the -pus is the same as in octopus.

And since we missed a few:
https://www.reddit.com/r/shittyaskscience/comments/85jgqn/is_the_plural_of_platypus_platypie_or_platypussies/

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( ˘ ͜ʖ ˘)

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Well, actually,
image

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You beat me to it. Welcome to BB!

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Well, technically there are eleven.

image

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Hey, no kink shaming!

Platypus! Is there anything they can’t do?

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So shouldn’t that be “Granted to the most pedantic users”? Or userpodes. I’m not really sure how plurals work anymore.

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Sigh. This has come up a lot recently. If plural is in dispute, -podes is mandated.

Platypodes.
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I seem to recall that scorpions do this as well.

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Since this thread has divulged into discussion of the Pedant Pendant its surprising no one has pointed out this bit. When were insects and birds removed from the animal kingdom?

Bio-fluorescence is also common in arachnids (including scorpions) and crustaceans and just lots of things that are actually part of the animal kingdom

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And with the mandate, the plural is not in dispute. Which then would obviate the mandate.

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Yeah, scorpions (and spiders) are biofluorescent - I once went out into the desert at night with someone who had a portable uv light, and it makes them really stand out in their environment. The interesting bit is that it seems like it’s part of a light-sensing mechanism for them: their whole bodies are like primitive eyes, detecting when sunlight strikes any part of them, so they can better hide themselves during the day.

(Also bioflorescent: probably all amphibians, lots of birds from parrots to penguins, a number of insects such as butterflies, and tons and tons of marine organisms. It’s not terribly rare, we just tend to not look at many things in the dark with a uv light.)

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Yes. It’s part of the requirement to be classified as a monotrene.

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Here you come with your lips closed tight
You never smile, you know it wouldn’t look right
'Cause your dentures glow in ultra-violet light

Chris Newman / Ed Pickford - The oldest swinger in town

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And 2020 is evidence that it’s daaaaaark.

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Treesonous.

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