![]() ![]() Then the top of their head, back and tail can be seen - like the tip of an iceberg, the rest remains submerged.Īn adult platypus can be from 45 cm to 60 cm long, with females generally smaller than males. Since platypus dive repeatedly for food, they generally are only sighted when they briefly return to the surface to breathe. All other mammals are in the subclass Theria and give birth to live young.ĪppearancePlatypus are readily identified by their streamlined body, webbed feet, broad tail and characteristic bill, which is rubbery and contains no true teeth. Platypus and echidnas are the only existing species of monotremes (egg laying mammals) on earth. Although many people have never seen one in the wild (due to their secretive and often nocturnal habits), most Australians strongly support their conservation. Since that time platypuses have continued to fascinate scientists and the public alike. This iconic mammal was so weird that when specimens first reached Europe at the end of the 19th century they were considered fakes. The platypus is characterised by a soft, toothless rubbery bill, webbed feet, fur and a single external opening to the urinary, digestive and reproductive tracts. ![]() Platypuses are frequently observed in the sometimes rare streams, rivers and lakes of one of the driest continents on the planet, where they often spend about 12 hours a day searching for food. Some aspects of their skeletons are similar to reptiles. Males have venomous spurs, females secrete milk through their skin, and their young are born into burrows dug into earth banks. It uses electro-receptors in its rubbery bill to find food on the bottom of freshwater streams, lakes and ponds. It occupies a wide range of habitats from alpine streams and ponds that freeze in winter, to the tepid waters of tropical north Queensland. The platypus ( Ornithorhynchus anatinus) is an egg-laying, semi-aquatic mammal that lives in Tasmania and along the eastern coast of mainland Australia. ![]()
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