A photo of a baby platypus is currently taking the Internet by storm, with many comparing its cuteness quotient to that of Baby Yoda or magical nifflers from Harry Potter's world of fantastic beasts. The picture in question shows the tiny animal sitting snugly inside someone's palm, all small toes and cute smiles.
The platypus is a duck-billed mammal endemic to eastern Australia, including Tasmania. The picture of one of Australia's most beloved species has delighted many on the Internet. On Twitter, it has collected millions of 'likes' and 'shares', along with thousands of comments from people swooning over the baby platypus. Take a look at some of the tweets below:
Just in case you needed to see a baby platypus today. I did but didn't even know it. ???? pic.twitter.com/RHPEnm3vuj
— FrogDoc (@TueborFrog) February 13, 2020
I think a baby platypus is the closest we're going to get to a baby Yoda. pic.twitter.com/XEANd6YY5f
— Lotty Earns (@lottyburns) February 15, 2020
If a baby platypus doesn't make you smile, you have no soul. pic.twitter.com/6QiFPoM7G3
— Beatgrrrl ???? (@Beatgrrrl) February 16, 2020
However, not everything you see on the Internet is true. As the picture went viral, many social media users googled for more pics of baby platypus - and were struck by the startling discrepancy between the pic and the results that showed up.
Okay so which of these is a real baby platypus pic.twitter.com/Tr0rKEGKEW
— niels (@hoglanderr) February 17, 2020
Turns out, the baby platypus pic is a hoax. According to Science Alert, the picture actually shows a small sculpture by Serbian fantasy artist Vladimir Matic-Kuriljov.
Crafted in stone and painted with acrylics, the artist has called his adorable creation as "probably the cutest thing I ever made". A post on his website, shared seven months ago, show more pics of the stone platypus.
The viral sculpture has now led to Twitter being flooded with more pics of baby platypus - which are actually called puggles.
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