Abandon any notion that the duck-billed platypus is a soft and cuddly creature ― maybe like Perry the Platypus in the Phineas and Ferb cartoon. This platypus, renowned as one of the few mammals that lay eggs, also is one of only a few venomous mammals. The males can deliver a mega-sting that causes immediate, excruciating pain, like hundreds of hornet stings, leaving victims incapacitated for weeks. Now scientists are reporting an advance toward deciphering the chemical composition of the venom, with the first identification of a dozen protein building blocks. Their study is in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, a weekly publication: “ Duck-Billed Platypus Venom Peptides Induce Ca2+ Influx in Neuroblastoma Cells .”