How does the platypus escape or hide?

Answer 1

The platypus is uniquely adapted to live in a semi-aquatic environment. It has:

• Webbed feet with a retracting webbed membrane which can expose the claws, enabling the platypus to effectively dig burrows. Its claws are used for digging burrows into 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.
• The platypus can remain underwater for between one and five minutes. 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 lays eggs (as does the echidna), unlike other mammals. However, it secretes mothers' milk through glands, rather than teats, on which the young feed after hatching.
• The platypus is a semi-aquatic animal, with thick, waterproof fur.
• It has a flat, beaver-like tail which acts as a rudder
• 2 eye lids for protection
• Males have venomous spurs on their hind legs to harm or kill predators
• The liver gets rid of water but stores fat
• During mating season, the female platypus digs a separate chamber at the end of her burrow. The eggs are laid here, and once hatched, the mother "closes off" the chamber with a wall of leaves when she leaves, to protect the young. The wall of leaves is also designed in such a way that it helps remove excess water from the platypus when she returns, thus keeping the chamber as dry as possible.

Answer 2

The platypus is brown in colour, with more yellowish fur on its underbelly. It naturally camouflages in with the colour of the water in which it swims and the bushland around its riverbank burrow, but it is unable to change its colour to match its surroundings.

Answer 3

The platypus is uniquely adapted to live in its semi-aquatic environment. It is found in freshwater creeks and rivers, within bushland, alpine or sub-tropical areas.

The platypus is a semi-aquatic animal, with thick, waterproof fur. It has a flat tail which acts as a rudder when it swims. It also has two eye lids for protection, and in fact closes its eyes when it dives and swims underwater. The liver gets rid of water but stores fat.

The ecosystem helps the platypus survive because it provides the food this animal needs. The platypus dives into creeks and rivers for its food, and can remain underwater for between one and five minutes. 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.

During mating season, the female platypus digs a separate chamber at the end of her burrow. The eggs are laid here, and once hatched, the mother "closes off" the chamber with a wall of leaves when she leaves, to protect the young. The wall of leaves is also designed in such a way that it helps remove excess water from the platypus when she returns, thus keeping the chamber as dry as possible.

Answer 4

The platypus's fur colour allows it to blend into its surroundings so that it may hide from predators.

The platypus is brown in colour, with more yellowish fur on its underbelly. It naturally camouflages in with the colour of the water in which it swims and the bushland around its riverbank burrow. If it is in the water when a predator approaches, it is able to remain underwater, motionless, for up to eight minutes, blending in with its underwater habitat. This allows it to hide from such predators as goannas, spotted quolls, eels, hawks, owls, dingoes and eagles.

Answer 5

The platypus does not actively employ camouflage, but its natural colouring allows it to blend in with its surroundings. It is brown in colour, with more yellowish fur on its underbelly. It naturally camouflages in with the colour of the water in which it swims and the bushland around its riverbank burrow, but it is unable to change its colour to match its surroundings.

Answer 6

The grey-brown colouring of the platypus's fur and its streamlined body enable it to swim just beneath the surface of creeks and rivers and to be virtually undetectable.

Answer 7

Oddly enough, it usually crawls under large boulders or trees to find shelter from it's prey.