The Water Mole by George Shaw

In 17 98, captain john hunter sent a sketch of the water mole to the literary and philosophical society in newcastle upon tine. This made its way to george shaw, keeper of the natural history collections at the british museum, which is now the natural history museum. He very carefully started looking for signs of stitching, thinking that maybe somebody had sewed a duck's bill on to a mole's body. Of course, he found no such evidence, because it was a platypus. Shaw also made the first attempt at giving this animal a name, which was platipus anatomus, which roughly translated to flat footed duck. In 18 hundred thomas