platypuses - 2025 ACF Fall

Tossup

This animal’s young develop vestigial teeth that are later lost in adults, who instead use heavily keratinized pads to grind food. While hunting, this animal closes its eyes, ears, and nose, (10[1]-5[1])and shakes (-5[2])its snout (10[1])back (10[1])and (10[1])forth (-5[1])to (10[1])sense (-5[1])prey (-5[2])using (-5[1])its 40,000 (10[2]-5[1])electroreceptors. (10[7]-5[10])This animal’s (-5[2])crural glands (10[1])produce (10[1])venom (10[4])that (10[1])is (10[1])injected (10[3])by (10[1])spurs (10[7]-5[1])on its (10[2])hind (10[6])limbs. (10[22]-5[1])This (10[2])animal practices (10[3])knuckle-walking to protect the webbing (-5[1])on its feet. (10[4])This sole (10[1])member (10[1])of the genus (10[2]-5[1])Ornithorhynchus (10[2])(“OR-nith-oh-RING-kiss”) lacks teats and delivers milk (10[1])through its pores, (10[1])like the (10[1])echidna, (10[2])its monotreme (10[1])relative. (10[1])For 10 points, name this semiaquatic, egg-laying (10[2]0[1])mammal (10[1])often (10[1])described as “duck-billed.” (10[2])■END■ (10[10])

ANSWER: platypuses [or platypi; or duck-billed platypuses; or Ornithorhynchus anatinus or O. anatinus; accept Ornithorhynchus until read]

= Average correct buzz position

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Buzzes

Player	Team	Opponent	Position	Value
Brennan Davis	Louisville B	WVU A	30	10
Mata Cooper	Southampton	Cambridge E	30	-5
Winston Zuo	UC Santa Barbara	UCLA D	32	-5
Zoe Brennan	Virginia Tech C	Virginia A	32	-5
Charlotte Bauer	McGill C	McGill B	34	10
Parker Jones	NCSU B	UNC C	35	10
Owen Ashbrook	Iowa A	Indiana B	36	10
Joanna Xiao	Georgia Tech B	Alabama A	37	-5
Nick Machin	UCLA A	UCLA B	38	10
Cole Hennessy	UCF A	ERAU Daytona A	39	-5
Alex Mayernick	Lehigh A	Rutgers D	40	-5
Anne Fjeld	Alberta A	Texas	40	-5
Drew Wetterlind	Iowa State	Wisconsin B	41	-5
Ty Brennan	Berkeley Mighty Miner	Berkeley Archer Queen	43	-5
Sarah Dong	Michigan A	Pittsburgh	43	10
Saswat Sasha Tripathi	Chicago A	Purdue A	43	10
Diego Monge	Claremont C	UCSD B	44	10
Anthony Gagliano	McGill A	Ottawa D	44	-5
Orin Overmiller	Florida Tech B	Florida Tech A	44	-5
Jacob Goodson	Ohio State A	CWRU A	44	-5
Nova Sink	Virginia Tech A	Duke A	44	10
Xavier Bornhorst	Maryland A	NYU B	44	10
Jason Lee	Rutgers A	NYU C	44	10
Conner Yamnitz	WashU Grizzlers	Illinois Orange	44	-5
Sophia Madrazo	Purdue B	Illinois Blue	44	10
Arthur Zhang	Purdue C	Illinois Urbana	44	-5
Michael Ai	Williams A	Tufts A	44	10
Logan Van Pelt	Washington Coho	British Columbia B	44	-5
Ben Lanahan	Clemson A	Auburn A	44	-5
Ronak Kelkar	Georgia Tech C	Georgia Tech F	44	-5
Alina Moore	Tennessee A	Emory A	44	10
Ariyan Miah	Binghamton B	Binghamton A	44	-5
Eli O'Sick Johnson	Binghamton C	Cornell D	44	-5
Kelvin Ni	NYU A	Rutgers C	46	-5
Ryan Zhang	British Columbia C	Washington Sockeye	46	-5
Surya Donath	Stanford A	Berkeley Boss Bandit	48	10
Lorie Au-Yeung	UCSC	Stanford B	49	10
Janghyun Lee	Berkeley Little Prince	Berkeley Skeleton King	50	10
Sewanth Paudel	Ohio State C	Michigan State D	50	10
Youyou Yu	Imperial A	Cardiff	50	10
Aidan Keenan	Rochester	Cornell C	50	10
Samson Vickrey	Purdue D	Indiana A	51	10
James Stadler	Imperial B	Oxford	52	10
Snehan Saroch	Louisville A	Michigan State B	53	10
Alex Irvine	Sheffield A	Durham C	53	10
Tom Morris-Jones	Birmingham	Imperial D	53	10
Anna Liao	Michigan B	Kentucky	54	10
John Shelly	Rowan	George Mason A	55	10
Alex Wong	Rutgers D	Lehigh A	55	10
Adam Chilbert	Macalester	Minnesota	55	10
Brandon Wiltse	Washington Chinook	Arizona State B	55	10
Alan Fan	Washington Steelhead	Washington Atlantic	55	-5
TJ Pickering	Auburn B	Vanderbilt A	55	10
Harper Royal	Georgia Tech E	Vanderbilt C	55	10
Jake Scoville	RIT B	RIT A	55	10
Connor King	St. Thomas	Wisconsin A	57	10
Richard D’Angelo	Tennessee B	Georgia Tech D	57	10
Arjun Saulnier	CWRU C	Michigan C	58	10
Charles Miller	William & Mary C	William & Mary A	58	10
Zachary Leblang	Penn	Maryland B	58	10
Elizabeth Ziberman	Stony Brook	Princeton	58	10
Helen Neves	Boise State	Alberta B	58	10
Rae Meyers	Arizona State A	Washington Masu	58	10
Annika Larson	Claremont A	UC Irvine	59	10
Brenna Scott	UCLA D	UC Santa Barbara	59	10
Nicholas Nguyen	Florida B	Florida A	59	10
Corey Pope	Florida State A	South Florida A	59	10
Manobhiram Vegendla	Ohio State D	CWRU D	59	10
Pace Klein	CWRU B	Louisville C	59	10
Brendan Karg	JMU B	Liberty A	59	10
William Erwin	William & Mary B	Liberty B	59	10
Jeffery Austin	UNC D	Liberty C	59	10
Emily Kadolph	Virginia Tech B	Tusculum A	59	10
Braydon Morefield	George Mason B	George Mason C	59	10
Ben Spirtas	Maryland C	Columbia A	59	10
Eli Young	Vassar A	Lehigh B	59	10
Luke Sauer	Michigan Tech	Wisconsin C	59	-5
Nitish Sudhakar	Georgia Tech A	Auburn C	59	10
Jeremy Scurlock	Chipola College	Mississippi State A	59	10
Daniel Slater	Tennessee Tech	Sewanne	59	10
Caleb Slusher	South Carolina A	Georgia A	59	10
John Shelley	Clemson B	Vanderbilt B	59	10
Isy Simpkins	Durham B	Durham D	59	10
Michael Shipman	Cambridge D	LSE	59	10
Rory Moloney	Cambridge E	Southampton	59	10
Gregory Stone	ESF	Cornell B	59	10
Sage Saperstein	USC B	Claremont B	60	10
Leighton Karpinia	Florida Tech A	Florida Tech B	60	10
Joseph Cole	UNC A	VCU A	62	10
Francis Dinh	Illinois Canada	William Woods University A	62	10
Harry Fines	York	Edinburgh A	62	10
Austin Tran	Rose-Hulman A	Iowa B	67	-5
Chris Chang	USC A	UCLA F	70	10
Rebecca Li	Ottawa A	McGill E	70	10
Alden Thompson	Carleton A	Ottawa C	70	10
Claire Harvey	Vassar B	Rutgers B	70	10
Antara Bhattacharya	Cambridge A	Cambridge C	72	10
Leona Barker	Edinburgh B	Sheffield B	73	10
Roy Yang	WashU Grolars	Illinois Champaign	76	10
James Haddix	Washington State	Washington Chum	76	-5
Sia Kalia	Warwick	Cambridge B	76	10
Aiden Wilson	WVU B	Michigan D	77	10
Joyann Hua	British Columbia B	Washington Coho	77	10
Musa Ahmed	Edinburgh C	Edinburgh D	82	10
Sonya Bates	Washington Atlantic	Washington Steelhead	85	10
Vivian Lu	Wisconsin C	Michigan Tech	87	10
Logan Patil	Georgia Tech F	Georgia Tech C	88	10
Ada Bendel	Bristol	Imperial C	88	10
Doug Frederick	Auburn A	Clemson A	90	10
Nikhil Nair	Boston University B	Southern Connecticut State University A	91	10
Hitansh Malaviya	Rutgers C	NYU A	98	10
Yashaswi Jaishy	Iowa B	Rose-Hulman A	98	0
Claire Chambers	Binghamton A	Binghamton B	98	10
Keerthana Krishnan	Texas	Alberta A	99	10
Annoshae Mirza	Berkeley Archer Queen	Berkeley Mighty Miner	100	10
Sam Alahi	Illinois Orange	WashU Grizzlers	103	10
Ba Loc Dinh	Illinois Urbana	Purdue C	103	10
Joseph Wang	UCLA E	UCLA C	104	10
Tristan Scarlett	Ottawa D	McGill A	104	10
Yishak Kelkay	ERAU Daytona A	UCF A	104	10
Enina Edosomwan	CWRU A	Ohio State A	104	10
Liam Rojas	Virginia A	Virginia Tech C	104	10
Noah Lang	Wisconsin B	Iowa State	104	10
Simarya Ahuja	Washington Sockeye	British Columbia C	104	10
Tri Lam	Washington Chum	Washington State	104	10
Jackson McDonald	Alabama A	Georgia Tech B	104	10
Irene Wu	Cornell D	Binghamton C	104	10

Summary

Tournament	Edition	TUH	Conv. %	Neg %	Average Buzz
UK (North)	UK	5	100%	0%	65.80
UK (South)	UK	8	100%	13%	63.63
Northern California	US	4	100%	25%	61.75
Southern California	US	7	100%	14%	62.00
Eastern Canada (1)	US	4	100%	25%	69.50
Florida	US	4	100%	50%	70.50
Great Lakes	US	10	100%	10%	58.70
Lower Mid-Atlantic	US	9	100%	11%	59.89
Upper Mid-Atlantic	US	11	100%	18%	59.91
Midwest	US	9	89%	33%	64.75
North	US	4	100%	50%	75.75
Northeast	US	2	100%	0%	67.50
Pacific	US	8	100%	63%	80.00
Southeast	US	12	100%	25%	65.67
Upstate NY	US	5	100%	40%	73.20