Not elder law: Genenic code of world's oldest mammal revealed

Scientists have deciphered the genetic blueprint of the duck-billed platypus, one of the oddest creatures on Earth.  The animal comes from an early branch of the mammal family, and like mammals it is covered in fur and produces milk. However, it lays eggs like a reptile.  Researchers say this unique mixture of features is reflected in its DNA.  The genome sequence, which is published in the journal Nature, holds clues to how humans and other mammals first evolved, they add.  The platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) is the latest in a string of mammals, including the mouse, rat, sheep, horse and dog, to have its genome decoded.  But it is the only member of the monotremes (egg laying mammals) for which we have a genetic blueprint.  The platypus is so strange that it was considered a hoax when sent from Australia to European researchers in the 19th Century.  "It has a very weird appearance because it's a mishmash of the bill of a duck, the eyes of a mole, the eggs of a lizard and the tail of a beaver," Dr Ponting told BBC News.

Source/more:  BBC News, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7385949.stm