Do monotremes nourish their young

Answer 1

Monotremes are egg laying mammals (Prototheria) instead of mammals which give birth to live young like marsupials (Metatheria) and placental mammals (Eutheria). They are still classified as mammals because they feed their young on mothers' milk.

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.
Montremes are from the class mammalia and include the spiny anteater and duck billed platypus. These mammals are able to lay eggs unlike marsupials whose young are born premature (ex. Kangaroo, oppossum, Tasmanian devil) and the placental mammals whose fetus's attached to placenta in uterus like in humans.

Answer 2

There are only two examples of monotremes in the world - the platypus and the echidna. Monotremes are carnivores and are specialist feeders.

The platypus hunts for food in the water, primarily eating aquatic insects (or terrestrial insects which fall into the water) and insect larvae, annelid worms and tiny crayfish and yabbies. On occasion, they may eat tiny frogs and fish, but these do not form a regular part of their diet.

The echidna eats terrestrial insects such as ants, grubs, termites and worms. The short-beaked echidna feeds exclusively on termites and ants. The long-beaked echidna of New Guinea eats worms and insect larvae.

Answer 3

Yes.

Usually when an egg hatches, the offspring inside is able to eat adult food immediately upon emerging. By contrast, animals which give birth produce offspring which cannot eat adult food and must survive on milk from the mother for an extended period of time. Monotremes are a fascinating mixture of the two scenarios in which their offspring are incubated in eggs but then nurse on their mother's milk once they hatch.

Answer 4

The two monotremes are the platypus and the echidna and, being mammals, they feed their young on mothers' milk.

These animals do not suckle their young quite like other mammals do. They do not have nipples, but exudes milk from specialised sweat glands on their abdomen.