What are special features of platypuses?

Answer 1

A platypus is a monotreme, i.e. an egg-laying mammal. It is one of just three species of egg-laying mammal in the world (the others being the short-beaked echidna and the long-beaked echidna).

It has dense, waterproof fur and a thick, furry tail, which is nothing like a beaver's tail, despite commonly being compared with it. A thicker tail is a sign of a healthy platypus.

The platypus uses its flat 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. The bill is also used to shovel up the soil on the bottom of the river or creek in order to find the food. Once found, the platypus uses grinding plates in its bill, rather than teeth, to crush the food before eating it.

It has short legs with webbed feet, and is well-equipped to hunt in the water, yet spends most of its time on land. Each foot has five toes with sharp claws, as it digs a burrow in the riverbank for shelter. When swimming, a membranous "web" extends between the toes. The webbing retracts so the platypus can dig its burrow.

The male platypus has a venomous spur on its hind leg, which cannot kill a human but can cause extreme pain.

Answer 2

• There is no particular name for a baby platypus. it is not called a "puggle", as some websites report.
• A baby platypus is hatched from an egg. It is not born live.
• The baby platypus is blind and hairless when first born.
• The mother keeps the platypus baby in a nesting chamber at the end of a long burrow.
• A bsby plstypud feeds on mothers' milk.