Platypuses

The Platypus people can be generally compared to a blend of Palawa aboriginal society and members of the Monotreme biological order.
Platypuses are one of the fifty-five races of anthropomorphic mammals that populate Yanìs, and are grouped in the subgenus of Australs together with Kangaroos and Koalas.

Physically, they are quite small, with an average height that rarely exceeds 4 feet and a negligible weight of 30/40 kg. Although they are mammals like many others, their physiology is truly unique: they have webbed feet and a broad, rubber -hard muzzle that is more reminiscent of a duck; males have a small poisoned spur on their feet; they lead a mainly aquatic and nocturnal life; they reproduce by laying a couple of eggs in a grass basin after fertilization occurs through sexual acts, and they nurse cubs afterwards; and some specimens even have a very slight bioluminescence. Their body and broad, flat tail are covered with dense, brown waterproof fur that traps a layer of insulating air to keep them warm.

The Platypus people may appear evolutionarily underdeveloped, and certainly they are much more tied to primal traditions than other peoples. The total isolation in which the Platypus people lived for millennia (due to the lack of valid forms of navigation developed by them or by the Kammon hinterland peoples) meant that many evolutions made in the hinterland are still unknown to the Platypuses, which in fact remained rather "primitive" compared to most peoples. For example, the use of bone tools, as well as sewing, boomerang, or techniques for lighting fires (which were often obtained from natural fires and brought from community to community by specially delegated specimens) was completely unknown for many centuries.

Furthermore, Platypuses built no huts or similar structures for many centuries, preferring to live in caves. According to some, however, this state of primitiveness is due to the fact that Lehututu has so many natural resources easily accessible that it was not necessary to develop technologies to improve performance. The Platypus people, however, are certainly not so underdeveloped that they are still wild. In fact, at the time of the tale, they live in half-dug houses, covered and protected by mangrove tangles, have a thriving colture of shellfish and bugs, good mining activities, and have developed many arts, including music, dance, stone-painting, carving, and their renowned shell necklace crafting.