The elusive platypus could disappear without a splash DECLINE: Scientists say the risk of local extinctions is rising due to damaged waterways, land clearing and climate change, but the creatures’ habits make them hard to monitor The Guardian It is dusk beside a creek and we are instructed to look for a trail of bubbles, under which could be one of the world’s weirdest mammals. When you are desperate to see a platypus in the fading light, everything looks like one. Floating logs from bank-side paperbark trees, gyrating leaves caught in a dance with the wind, and what was probably a water rat dashing from the rocks — they all make the heart skip briefly.