Fauna of Australia species are nocturnal and many arboreal. Two of the five living species of monotreme occur in Australia: the platypus and the short-beaked echidna. The monotremes differ from other mammals in their methods of reproduction; in particular, they lay eggs instead of giving birth to live young. The platypus—a venomous, egg-laying, duck-billed amphibious mammal—is considered to be one of the strangest creatures in the animal kingdom. When it was first presented by Joseph Banks to English naturalists it was thought to be so strange that it was a cleverly created hoax. The short-beaked echidna is similarly strange, covered in hairy spikes
What Is This Thing Called Love? (short story) other, and wind up engaging in reproductive activities after all. What Is This Thing Called Love? (short story) "What Is This Thing Called Love?" is a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov. The story was requested by Cele Goldsmith Lalli, editor of "Amazing Stories", as a satire of an article in "Playboy" called "Girls of the Slime God" which had suggested that pulp science fiction stories were concerned with aliens and sex. The story appeared in the March 1961 issue of "Amazing" as "Playboy and the Slime God", but Asimov later retitled it "What Is This Thing Called Love?"