What is the platypus's behavior like?

Answer 1

The platypus is a very shy and elusive creature, hiding during the day, and doing most of its searching for food in the evening and at night. A platypus may make up to 100 dives a day searching for food, staying underwater for one to two minutes at a time.

Platypuses shelter in burrows they dig in riverbanks, using their sharp claws which have retractable webbing.

Males platypuses can defend themselves with a sharp spur on their hind ankle which delivers strong venom.

Answer 2

• Platypuses are essentially solitary animals. They do not live with other males or females, but only ever in a small (temporary) family group made up of the mother and the babies.
• They dig burrows deep into riverbanks. Females will dig a chamber at the end of the burrow for nesting.
• They usually hunt and feed at night, although they can be seen at dawn and dusk. They are elusive and rarely seen.
• The platypus can also ration its blood oxygen supply by reducing its heartbeat from two hundred beats per minute to ten beats per minute.
• Platypuses close their eyes when they hunt for food underwater. They may make hundreds of dives in a single day. 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. The platypus then uses its bill to shovel away the dirt, and find the food.

Answer 3

Platypuses reproduce via sexual reproduction. They mate on land, not in the water, as is commonly believed. Platypus courtship rituals involve the male chasing the female around in a circle. They have a complex system of side-passing, under-passing and over-passing each other, until the male finally grasps the female's tail in his bill, and they continue circling tightly until mating occurs.

Platypuses reproduce by laying eggs, which hatch into young platypuses that initially feed off mothers' milk. The platypus is a monotreme, or egg-laying mammal, just like the echidna, and quite unique to Australia. Platypuses lay eggs in a chamber at the end of a burrow dug into a riverbank or next to a creek. Their young, once hatched, drink milk from glands on the mother's abdomen, rather than attaching to teats.

Answer 4

depends on if hes mad or happy if you poke him with a stick im sure he will get pissed off so i dont recamend you doing that at all i did it onece and i had to pull out my 9mm and shot him down man he was on my turf and not even a freakin platyus gets on my turf!!!!!!!!! G FOR LIFE represent man gota stay straight homey he coudls be packin you never know man.......PEACE man hope that helped you out!!!!! love from cali son

Answer 5

The platypus has a number of unique behavioural characteristics. It digs burrows into riverbanks for shelter. 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.

The platypus is a nocturnal, underwater hunter. 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 is a shy and elusive creature, rarely seen so hardly studied.

Answer 6

Platypuses are very shy creatures, elusive and difficult to see in their natural state. They shelter in burrows they dig into riverbanks, and when feeding, spend most of their time digging along the bottom of riverbeds and ponds.

Answer 7

Learned behaviors about a platypus consist of the following:

• finding food
• marking territory
• defensive behavior
• courtship
• parenting

Answer 8

The platypus is a solitary animal which does not live in social groups.