What are some unique characteristics of the platypus?

Answer 1

Platypuses are only small creatures. A male platypus is 50-60 cm in length, whilst the female is smaller, averaging 40-50 cm in length. They are very lightly built creatures, with females weighing as little as 900 grams, and males around 2kg.

Whilst some may say the platypus has a unique appearance similar to that of part beaver and part duck, 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.

The colour of a platypus's fur is dark brown over most of its body, with a grey undercoat. Its belly is gold-coloured or silky grey.

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. Its feet are not permanently webbed, as the membrane that stretches to help it swim swiftly retracts for the purpose of digging.

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.

Answer 2

The platypus, a monotreme (egg-laying mammal) native to Australia, has a number of unique features.

• The platypus has a sensitive bill equipped with electro-receptors, with which it senses tiny electrical impulses from underwater insect larvae, snails, worms, small fish, and crustaceans on which it feeds. It can remain underwater for between one and five minutes.
• It has a shovel-shaped bill with which it can scoop up the food it finds.
• It has short legs with retractable webbing between its sharp claws which extends to help it with swimming. Each foot has five toes with sharp claws, as it digs a burrow in the riverbank for shelter.
• It has a broad, flat tail which acts as a rudder.
• The platypus also has sleek, dense, waterproof fur.

Answer 3

The platypus has a number of unique characteristics which set it apart from other animals. 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.
• It is an unusual mammal in that it has a bill. 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.
• It has a flat 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 and soil 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

1. Platypuses have strong claws for digging burrows.

2. They have webbed feet, but their webbing is retractable. The webbed feet help them swim, and the webbing retracts so it is not damaged when they dig,

3. Platypuses have a flat tail which acts as a rudder, and in which fat accumulates when food is plentiful, so that they have something to live when food becomes scarce or while the female incubates her eggs. the tail also serves the function of enabling the female to carry nesting material up and down steep riverbanks into their burrows. The tail curls around bundles of vegetation which he collects.

4. he platypus has a flat, broad bill, which is equipped with electro receptors that enable it to detect electrical impulses of tiny invertebrates on which it feeds. It uses this flat bill to sift through the mud at the bottom of creek beds and river beds, and to collect the food.

5. Platypuses have no visible ears; just two ear holes. 6. laity uses do not have teeth. instead, they have grinding pates which they use to crush their food before swallowing.

Answer 5

Platypuses are quite small mammals, with a covering of thick, velvety fur. Its fur is dark brown over most of its body, with a grey undercoat. Its belly is gold-coloured or silky grey. Its tail is fully furred, unlike the beaver, with which it is often compared.

Its head is flat and streamlined for swimming under the water's surface. An interesting characteristic is its flat, slate-grey snout which is often refereed to as a duck's bill: however, it is quite different from the bill of a duck, being flatter and broader.

A male platypus is 50-55 cm in length, whilst the female is smaller, averaging 40-50 cm in length. They are very lightly built creatures, with females weighing as little as 900 grams, and males around 2kg.

The platypus has webbed feet, claws and a flat tail, and lives in burrows in riverbanks. Its feet are not permanently webbed, as the membrane that stretches to help it swim swiftly retracts for the purpose of digging, exposing its sharp claws.