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The platypus uses the electroreceptors in its bill to find food. It closes its eyes when underwater, and uses its bill to detect movements. Equipped with electroreceptors, the sensitive bill can sense electrical impulses, even the tiniest of movements made by underwater crustaceans.

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Why is the platypus's and echidna's snout similar?

The snout of the platypus and the echidna are not similar at all. The platypus has a broad, flat bill which is equipped with sensitive electroreceptors which enable it to detect electrical impulses given out by tiny invertebrates underwater. The echidna has a long, pointed snout which it will push into termite mounds to get to termites, but it has no electroreceptors.


Does a platypus find food in both water and on land?

No. The platypus is adapted for finding food in the water, not on land. The sensitive electroreceptors in its bill work underwater, not in the air.


What mammals have bills?

The Platypus has a soft bill which contains electroreceptors. It uses these electroreceptors to detect prey. The mouth area of a cetacean (whale, dolphin, or porpoise) is called the beak (beak and bill are synonyms for birds), but this is not truly a bill.


Does a platypus need help finding its food?

No. The platypus is well equipped with sensitive electroreceptors which pick up tiny nerve and electrical impulses generated by crustaceans and other animals that inhabit the bottom of the creek or river. The platypus then uses its bill to shovel away the dirt, and find the food. It does not have teeth, but hard bony plates which it uses to grind the food.


What is a platypus's oddity?

Possibly the oddest quality of the platypus is its bill, which is equipped with electroreceptors which can detect tiny crustaceans in the water, on which the platypus feeds. It is the only mammal with such a bill. Its feet are also odd. They have retractable webbing; the webbing enables them to swim more efficiently, and it retracts so that the platypus can dig its burrows for shelter.


Which mammal has a duckbill?

No mammal has a duckbill. The platypus is sometimes mistakenly called the "duckbill platypus" but this is a complete misnomer. The platypus's bill is nothing like that of a duck, being flatter and broader. Also, it is equipped with electroreceptors which enable it to find food underwater. The duck's bill does not have this facility.


How does the platypus help the environment?

what does the platypus do to help the enviroment


What is the platypus's extra sense?

Platyouses have an extra sense - that of electroreception. The bill of a platypus has sensitive electroreceptors which pick up tiny nerve and electrical impulses generated by crustaceans and other animals that inhabit the bottom of the creek or river in which they feed.


What sense does the platypus have that humans don't?

Platypuses have the unique sense known as electroreception. The bill of a platypus has sensitive electroreceptors which pick up tiny nerve and electrical impulses generated by crustaceans and other animals that inhabit the bottom of the creek or river.


What characteristics help the platypus as it hunts for food?

The platypus has a number of unique adaptations which help it to find food. The platypus dives into creeks and rivers for its food. Its bill has sensitive electroreceptors which pick up tiny nerve and electrical impulses generated by crustaceans and other animals that inhabit the bottom of the creek or river. The platypus then uses its bill to shovel away the dirt, and find the food. It does not have teeth, but hard bony plates which it uses to grind the food. The platypus has webbed feet which help it to swim, and which have a retracting webbed membrane which can expose the claws, enabling the platypus to effectively dig burrows in riverbanks for shelter, and the webbing membrane retracts for that purpose, but spreads between its toes when it needs to swim - which it needs to do to get its food.


What very unusual Australian mammal does two things other mammals do not?

The platypus lays eggs, and swims underwater, using its bill (equipped with electroreceptors) to find food.


What features of the platypus suggest that it is a bird?

No features suggest it is a bird. It is a mammal. The bill of a platypus serves a quite different function to that of any bird, as bird do not have electroreceptors in their bills. Platypuses do lay eggs, but even the eggs are quite different to those of a bird.