Duck-billed Platpus

After designing my Emperor Penguin for my oldest son (it was his first Webkinz pet), of course I had to design my younger son's first Webkinz - a Platypus. In fact, he has a family of platypi - a white one (the dad), a pink one (the mom) and a little white one that has now in truth become a brown platypus. I found a picture shown below to base my design on, but it left a few unanswered questions. Precisely how many toes are on each foot? What is the precise location and orientation of the poison-spurs I had heard were somewhere on the back legs? I found a picture of a platypus skeleton which indicated that the feet each have five toes and the spurs are on the "heels" of the back feet and curve upward. I have also included a picture that shows the poison-spurs of my origami platypus.

Design date: August, 2008

Paper used: A single un-cut square of tissue foil.