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Monotremes are egg laying mammals (Prototheria) instead of mammals which give birth to live young like marsupials (Metatheria) and placental mammals (Eutheria). However, like other mammals, monotremes feed their young on mothers' milk. this is what makes them mammals.
Australia has two species of monotremes: the platypus and the short-beaked echidna.
The long-beaked echidna is the only other species of monotreme, and lives in New Guinea, as does a smaller population of short-beaked echidna.
The name monotreme is derived from two Greek words meaning "one-holed", because they have just one external opening, the cloaca, for both waste elimination and for reproduction. The cloaca leads to the urinary, faecal and reproductive tracks, all of which join internally, and it is the orifice by which the female monotreme lays her eggs.
In addition, monotremes do not have teeth. Platypuses have grinding plates with which they crush their food. Echidnas have a long, sticky tongue for catching termites and ants, and they swallow their food whole.
Both types of monotremes are effective diggers, having long, sharp claws. They both dig burrows.
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Why egg laying platypus is considered as an mammal?
The platypus is considered to be a primitive mammal which still has some reptilian characteristics, but it does have fur, and it does secrete milk to feed its offspring, and those are key mammalian characteristics that no reptile has. Correction: In recent decades, scientists have debunked the theory that platypuses and their egg-laying relatives, echidnas, are primitive. Egg-laying mammals are called monotremes, and it is no longer believed that monotremes are primitive mammals.
How are monotremes and other mammals the same?
Monotremes are mammals; therefore they share many similarities: they are warm-blooded, have hair, possess high metabolisms - all characteristics that define what a mammal is. The defining characteristic of a mammal is that it suckles its young on mothers' milk, and monotremes certainly do this.The key difference between the two is that monotremes reproduce by laying eggs rather than give birth.
Are monotremes real?
Yes, monotremes are real.
What are some modern day monotremes?
The only monotremes still in existence today are the platypus, and two species of echidna (the long-beaked and the short-beaked echidna).
Is a blue whale a monotremes?
No a Blue Whale is Not a monotremes.
Do monotremes eat their young?
Monotremes never eat their young.
What mammal is a monotreme?
Monotremes are egg laying mammals, the platypus and the echidna are the only two monotremes.
What is the subclass of mammal species in which females lay eggs like non-mammalian vertebrates?
This subclass/infraclass/order is called Monotremata, and mammals within it are called monotremes. Monotremata consists of the Platypus and two species of echidnas. There are many other characteristics that set monotremes apart from other mammals.
Do monotremes have lungs or gills?
Monotremes are mammals; therefore they have lungs, not gills.
What phylum includes eutherians and monotremes?
Eutherians and monotremes are in the phylum Chordata.
Do monotremes have short internal development?
No, monotremes do not have short internal development.
Can you give some oviparous animals?
Birds, monotremes, most reptiles and amphibians are oviparous.
