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The Platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) is a semi-aquatic mammal endemic to eastern Australia and Tasmania. Together with the short-beaked and long-beaked echidna, it is one of the three species of monotremes, the only mammals that lay eggs instead of giving birth to live young. Like placental mammals and marsupials, the young are suckled by the mother. It is the sole living representative of its family (Ornithorhynchidae) and genus (Ornithorhynchus), though a number of related species have been found in the fossil record.

Platypuses live in burrows they dig in riverbanks, and hunt for their food in water. Their bills are equipped with very sensitive electro-receptors, with which they can sense the movements of tiny crustaceans and larvae on the bottom of rivers and creeks.

Whilst some may say it has a unique appearance similar to that of a beaver with a duck's head, it really does not look like that at all. It is covered in fur, and its head is flat and streamlined for swimming under the water's surface. Its bill is different in shape to that of a duck, so even the term "duck-billed platypus" is a misnomer. It has webbed feet, claws and a flat tail, and lives in burrows in riverbanks.

The bizarre appearance of this egg-laying mammal with a bill baffled naturalists when it was first discovered, with some considering it an elaborate fraud. It is one of the few venomous mammals; the male Platypus has a spur on the hind foot which delivers a poison capable of killing a small dog or causing severe pain to humans - pain which can last for months. The unique features of the platypus make it an important subject in the study of Biology.

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11y ago

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