1. Platypus By: Kamille Smith

2. General Info The average female platypus weighs about 2½ pounds. The average male platypus weighs about 5 pounds. They have a very large difference. Since the male is about 20 inches long (1 foot 8 inches) and the females are around 17 inches (1 foot 5 inches). The males are much larger.

3. Appearance The platypus almost looks like a cross between an otter, a beaver, and a duck! It has two coats of fur so it is very waterproof. It also has retractable webbed feet, similar to how a human uses flippers to help them swim; their webbed feet help the platypus swim. It has a broad tail that helps it to swim. It has a broad ail to help it steer. Just like how a steering wheel on a car steers your car different directions, a platypi tail steers when swimming into different directions.

4. Habitat The platypus lives only in Australia, North Queensland, and Tasmania. It lives along rivers, streams, and even lakes (fresh bodies of water). The platypus has amphibian behavior since it lives in and off of water. It is more comfy in water though, where it doesn’t stumble and trip. It builds burrows along fresh water streams, lakes, and rivers.

5. Food The platypus enjoys a variety of aquatic insects and animals such as: crayfish, shrimp, earthworms, snails, tadpoles and frogs, and small fish. Some things beyond what a human would EVER eat! In fact if you had the diet of a platypus it would be nearly as much as a 150 lbs. Human eating 30 pounds of food everyday! A platypus spends about half of the day searching for food! Yet they’re only about 5 lbs!

6. Physical and Behavioral Adaptations The platypus has many unique features. It has: Retractable webbed feet to help swim Venom (males only) to help protect from predators 2 eyelids Flat broad beaver like tail good for swimming and storing fat Waterproof fur Can close nostrils Electric receptions on bill to sense when another animal is near

7. Cool Facts The platypus is a very unusual animal. I bet you never knew this! There is no actual way to find out the gender of a platypus… that is unless you want to the hard way The platypus is the only member of its gene (Ornithorhyncus) that is alive The platypus isn’t endangered Platypus stars in: ‘Phineas and Ferb’ as ‘Perry the Platypus’ The first person to discover the platypus thought it was a prank. Rumor has it he tried to cut of its bill with scissors.