Platypuses are semi-aquatic mammals. I consider this animal strange because it is a mixture of mammal and oviparous (animal that lays eggs). It is a mammal but it lays eggs. Some people don´t appreciate the strangeness of this creature. There is no other mammal that looks at all like platypuses. It has a beak and no other mammal has anything that looks like a beak. In fact, the platypus's beak is quite different from that of a bird. It's rubbery, rather than horny, and has an internal bone structure supporting it. It's actually there to house special sense organs that detect tiny electric currents in the water that give away the presence of the shrimps, worms, and so on that it eats. Platypuses walk like lizards because their legs are to the side. Mammals don´t have their legs to the side but platypuses do. This is another strange feature about them. There are a lot of strange things about platypuses (there are only some in this text).
Here is some information about the platypus:
The platypus is mostly found in eastern part of Australia. They live aside freshwater rivers or lakes, and create burrows for shelter and protection (there is a photograph at the bottom of the page showing the habitat in with they live in. Most habitats for platypuses are the same). They are active mainly at nighttime hours, and use their webbed feet for swimming. When swimming the platypus has its eyes shut. They swim underwater for 2 minutes, before returning to the surface for oxygen. They can however stay underwater for up to 10 minutes, and due to their natural buoyancy, they need to be underneath another object to do this.
The Platypus has a wooly furred coat and range from 30cm to 45cms in length and the tail about 10 to 15 cm. It isn´t a huge animal as people think. The wooly furred coat actually has three different layers. The first layer keeps the animal warm, by trapping air, the second layer which provides an insulating coat for the animal, and lastly the third layer of long flat hairs to detect objects close by. These creatures weight on average between 1 to 2.4 kilograms. They have an average lifespan of 12 years. A female platypus often lays between 1 and 3 eggs. She lays her eggs only about four weeks after mating. The egg size in not really clear on any webpage I visited. I personally think it has a normal size, obviously bigger than a chicken egg.
Platypuses feed on insect larvae, worms or other freshwater insects. They do so mainly at night, by the use of their bill. They turn up mud on the bottom of the lake or river, and with the help of their electroreceptors located on the bill, find many insects and freshwater insects. They store their findings in special pouches behind their bill, and are consumed upon returning to the surface.
Amazing Fact: Platypuses can consume their own body weight in food in a 24 hour period!
Male platypus are larger than the female. They reproduct by mating which occurs once a year, between June - October. The female lays between 2 - 4 eggs and incubates these for a two week period. When a young platypus is born, they feed from milk from the mother. The mother secretes this milk from large glands under the skin, the young platypus feed from this milk which ends up on the mothers fur.
If you thought this was a cute and cuddly Australian animal, well, you are only half correct. The male platypi have a hollow spur about 15 milimetres in length on the inside of both hind legs. This in turn is connected to a venom gland, and the platypus uses this spur to defend itself against predators.
Amazing Fact: The male platypus has venom strong enough to can kill a small dog, or cause excruciating pain among humans.
Since only the male platypus has this venomous spur, and the gland peaks during mating season, many suggest it is normally used in aggressive encounters between other male platypus.
A baby platypus is not called a puggle, which seems to be a common misconception. There is no official name for a baby platypus, but a common suggested name is "platypus".
Here is a picture of the anatomy of a duck-billed platypus:
Here is some information about the platypus:
The platypus is mostly found in eastern part of Australia. They live aside freshwater rivers or lakes, and create burrows for shelter and protection (there is a photograph at the bottom of the page showing the habitat in with they live in. Most habitats for platypuses are the same). They are active mainly at nighttime hours, and use their webbed feet for swimming. When swimming the platypus has its eyes shut. They swim underwater for 2 minutes, before returning to the surface for oxygen. They can however stay underwater for up to 10 minutes, and due to their natural buoyancy, they need to be underneath another object to do this.
The Platypus has a wooly furred coat and range from 30cm to 45cms in length and the tail about 10 to 15 cm. It isn´t a huge animal as people think. The wooly furred coat actually has three different layers. The first layer keeps the animal warm, by trapping air, the second layer which provides an insulating coat for the animal, and lastly the third layer of long flat hairs to detect objects close by. These creatures weight on average between 1 to 2.4 kilograms. They have an average lifespan of 12 years. A female platypus often lays between 1 and 3 eggs. She lays her eggs only about four weeks after mating. The egg size in not really clear on any webpage I visited. I personally think it has a normal size, obviously bigger than a chicken egg.
Platypuses feed on insect larvae, worms or other freshwater insects. They do so mainly at night, by the use of their bill. They turn up mud on the bottom of the lake or river, and with the help of their electroreceptors located on the bill, find many insects and freshwater insects. They store their findings in special pouches behind their bill, and are consumed upon returning to the surface.
Amazing Fact: Platypuses can consume their own body weight in food in a 24 hour period!
Male platypus are larger than the female. They reproduct by mating which occurs once a year, between June - October. The female lays between 2 - 4 eggs and incubates these for a two week period. When a young platypus is born, they feed from milk from the mother. The mother secretes this milk from large glands under the skin, the young platypus feed from this milk which ends up on the mothers fur.
If you thought this was a cute and cuddly Australian animal, well, you are only half correct. The male platypi have a hollow spur about 15 milimetres in length on the inside of both hind legs. This in turn is connected to a venom gland, and the platypus uses this spur to defend itself against predators.
Amazing Fact: The male platypus has venom strong enough to can kill a small dog, or cause excruciating pain among humans.
Since only the male platypus has this venomous spur, and the gland peaks during mating season, many suggest it is normally used in aggressive encounters between other male platypus.
A baby platypus is not called a puggle, which seems to be a common misconception. There is no official name for a baby platypus, but a common suggested name is "platypus".
Here is a picture of the anatomy of a duck-billed platypus:
Here is a photograph of what their habitat looks like:
A baby platypus look like this:
As you can see in the photograph, baby platypuses are not very big. When they grow up they aren´t huge animals but they are quite bigger than when they a rev babies.