All About the Platypus By: Kim Edwards Yr 5

All About Platypus Animal : Platypus or otherwise known as the Duck-billed Platypus Species name – anatinus The Platypus is a unique Australian species. Along with echidnas, Platypuses are grouped in a separate order of mammals known as monotremes, which are distinguished from all other mammals because they lay eggs.

What Kind of Animal Is a Platypus? Distinguishing features of a Platypus are: streamlined body with a bill and broad flat tail; short limbs with webbed feet; dense dark brown to reddish brown fur with light brown/silver underfur. Male Platypuses possess a horny spur on their ankles, which is connected to a venom gland in the upper leg, making the Platypus one of the few venomous mammals. Males are larger than females and can be over 60 cm long (tip of the bill to tip of the tail). Typically, males are mm long, and females are mm long. The weight is g for males and g for females.

Where a Platypus Lives Platypuses are dependant on Australia rivers, streams and bodies of freshwater. When they are not foraging, they are generally found in its burrow in the bank of river/creek or pond. Using the rocky crevices and stream debris as shelter. The shelter also consists on logs, twigs and roots, cobbled or gravel water substrate. Platypuses are found in Eastern Queensland & New South Wales, Victoria and throughout Tasmania

What a Platypus Likes To Eat Platypuses appetite consists of a wide variety of aquatic bethnic invertebrates, particularly insect larvae. They prefer to eat at night time and prefers to eat free swimming organisms for example, shrimps, beetles, water bugs, tadpoles, worms, snails. Platypus’s can forage up to hours per day.

A Platypuses Early Stages of Life When the young hatch the mother spends most of her time with her young in the burrow, and as the young grow, she increasingly leaves them to forage. Towards the end of the summer the young emerge from the burrow and their fate as young independent animals is still largely unknown.

How a Platypus Survives Platypuses spend most of their time in water or their burrow, so it is difficult to determine their predators. There have been anecdotal reports of the species being predated on by crocodiles, goannas, carpet pythons, eagles and large native fish. In addition, it is likely that foxes, and possibly dogs or dingoes kill Platypuses that move on land or in shallow waters. For protection the males use their back feet to strike predators as they release venom from their nail.

Evolution of a Platypus Platypus genome have been compared with genomes of the human, mouse, dog, opossum and chicken. They found that the platypus shares 82 percent of its genes with these animals. The researchers also found genes that support egg laying - a feature of reptiles - as well as lactation - a characteristic of all mammals.