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Monotremes
With only three living species, monotremes are a relatively small, unique group of egg-laying mammals. Questions and answers about monotremes, which are native to Australia and New Guinea, can be asked and found here.
138 Questions
What is the difference between monotremes and eutherians?
Monotremes are a group of egg-laying mammals, such as the platypus and echidna, which possess unique features like a cloaca and mammary glands without nipples. In contrast, eutherians, or placental mammals, give birth to live young that develop inside the uterus, nourished through a complex placenta. This fundamental difference in reproduction reflects broader evolutionary adaptations and physiological traits between the two groups. Overall, monotremes are more primitive, while eutherians represent a more advanced stage in mammalian evolution.
List three affixes and inflections in the words ova monotremes and holoblastic?
For ova it is "a", for monotremes it is "s" and for holoblastic it is "ic."
Which order contains the one kind of mammal that lays eggs?
None - because there are two types of mammals which lay eggs.
Monotremata is the order which contains the echidna and the platypus, both of which are egg-laying mammals.
Monotremes is the order of mammals that lay eggs rather than giving live birth.
Do mammals only ever lay eggs on land?
Yes.
Most mammals give birth to live young, but those that are egg-laying do so on land.
The only mammals which lay eggs - the platypus and the echidna - are known as monotremes. The platypus lays its eggs on land, in a chamber at the end of a long burrow it digs in the riverbank or creek bank. The echidna actually develops a rudimentary pouch into which it lays a single egg during breeding season.
What is the habitat of monotremes?
Monotreme habitats vary.
The short-beaked echidna is found right across Australia, from deserts to bushland to rainforests to sub-alpine regions - basically, wherever there are termites and ants, its primary food source.
The long-beaked echidna is found in the tropical forests on mountainous slopes of New Guinea.
The platypus is found alongside freshwater creeks and rivers in eastern Australia, from sub-tropical rainforests and bushland in the north to cool-temperate bushland in the south.
Monotrems is an example of a mammal that lay eggs like echidnas and platypus
What are some characteristics of monotremes?
Monotremes are egg laying mammals (Prototheria) instead of mammals which give birth to live young like marsupials (Metatheria) and placental mammals (Eutheria). However, like other mammals, monotremes feed their young on mothers' milk. this is what makes them mammals.
Australia has two species of monotremes: the platypus and the short-beaked echidna.
The long-beaked echidna is the only other species of monotreme, and lives in New Guinea, as does a smaller population of short-beaked echidna.
The name monotreme is derived from two Greek words meaning "one-holed", because they have just one external opening, the cloaca, for both waste elimination and for reproduction. The cloaca leads to the urinary, faecal and reproductive tracks, all of which join internally, and it is the orifice by which the female monotreme lays her eggs.
In addition, monotremes do not have teeth. Platypuses have grinding plates with which they crush their food. Echidnas have a long, sticky tongue for catching termites and ants, and they swallow their food whole.
Both types of monotremes are effective diggers, having long, sharp claws. They both dig burrows.
Monotremes and marsupials are limited to the Australian region because of?
Continental drift is a significant factor in why monotremes and most (not all) marsupials are found in Australia. This has resulted in isolation.
What is unique about monotremes?
Monotremes are Australian mammals that are unique in several ways. First of all, they are the only mammals to lay eggs. Also, despite having mammary glands, they do not have teats. This caused great confusion when they were being classified, because mammary glands are one defining characteristics of mammals and the absence of teats made them difficult to locate.
What animal with spines lays eggs?
The echidna is an animal which lays eggs. The echidna is covered in spines. Like platypuses, echidnas are monotremes, or egg-laying mammals.
What are some adaptations of monotremes?
The two types of monotremes are platypuses and echidnas, and there are two species of echidna. Monotremes are egg-laying mammals, but like all mammals, they feed their young on mothers' milk.
The platypus has unique adaptations which enable it 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.
Adaptations of the echidna include:
- A long tongue with sticky saliva, with which it eats termites and ants.
- A long snout which makes it easy for the echidna to burrow for ants, termites and worms.
- During breeding season, the female echidna develops a pouch, where she lays and incubates her egg. Although the pouch is little more than a fold of skin, it protects the egg from would-be predators such as goannas.
- The echidna has sharp claws for digging, and this ability to dig effectively is helped by its compact, muscular body shape and strong forelegs. When threatened, they can dig very, very quickly into the earth, disappearing horizontally, leaving only their quills exposed while they burrow.
- The echidna is very adaptable, living in a wide variety of climates and environments, from sub-alpine regions to arid semi-desert - wherever there are termites and ants.
- Echidnas burrow as a protective defence, leaving only the spines exposed to the potential predator.
- Echidnas are able to tolerate high levels of carbon dioxide, a necessity for an animal which burrows for protection (and sometimes for food). Because of this, they can also tolerate lower oxygen levels, and this is useful when bushfires occur.
- When flash floods occur, echidnas can dive underwater, and as they do so, their heart rate drops, which saves oxygen needed by the brain and the heart.
There is no mammal that lays chickens. Even chickens do not lay chickens: they lay eggs. there are two types of egg-laying mammals (not chicken-laying), and they are the platypus and the echidna.
All mammals suckle their young what does this mean?
All mammals have feeding nipples , different numbers from 2 to 12 or so. The young suck on these and get a thick milky substance called colostrum for nourishment.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of egg laying?
Advantages :
If the parents die the babies have a better chance of living.
The shell protects the baby
More eggs can be layed
Disadvantages :
The babies can be easily taken by preditors
Are monotremes either asymmetrical or symmetrical?
Symmetrical. All mammals and, indeed, all vertebrates, have bilateral symmetry.
What are the names of the only two egg-laying mammals in existence?
The only two egg-laying mammals in existence are the platypus and the echidna, which are classed as monotremes. They are still classified as mammals because they feed their young on mothers' milk - a characteristic unique to mammals alone.
There are just three known species of egg-laying mammals, or monotremes. They are the platypus and short-beaked echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus) of Australia, and the long-beaked echidna (Zaglosssus bruijni) of Papua New Guinea. The echidna is sometimes called the spiny anteater, and there are several sub-species of the long-beaked echidna: the Western long-beaked echidna, Sir David's long-beaked echidna and the Eastern long-beaked echidna.
By definition, mammals have live young, with the exception of the three species of monotremes.
These include the platypus and the short-beaked echidna, native to Australia, and the long-beaked echidna, native to New Guinea (there are three sub-species of the long-beaked echidna). These animals lay eggs, but still feed their young on mother's milk.
Eutheria (placental mammals) and marsupials do not lay eggs.
Is kitna a mammal that lay eggs?
Echidnas, also called spiny anteaters, are mammals native to Australia and New Guinea which are notable for laying eggs rather than bearing live young. The echidna and the platypus are believed to be the only egg-laying mammals to still exist.
What is the spiky egg laying mammal of Australia called?
This is the echidna. There are just three known species of egg-laying mammals, or monotremes. They are the platypus and short-beaked echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus) of Australia, and the long-beaked echidna (Zaglossus bruijni) of Papua New Guinea. Both types of echidnas are covered with thick fur, from which hundrs of sharp spines protrude, offering protection. The echidna is sometimes called the spiny anteater, and there are several sub-species of the long-beaked echidna: the Western long-beaked echidna, Sir David's long-beaked echidna and the Eastern long-beaked echidna.
No.
The vast majority of mammals do not lay eggs at all. There are only three egg-laying mammals, which are known as monotremes: the platypus, the short-beaked echidna and the long-beaked echidna. Not one of these species lays its eggs in the water.
Are there three types of monotremes?
Yes. Monotremes are mammals that lay eggs. There are three species of monotremes:
- Platypus - indigenous to Australia alone
- Short-beaked echidna, sometimes known as the spiny anteater - found in Australia and a small region in New Guinea.
- Long-beaked echidna - found in the New Guinea highlands
Monotremata is commonly known as?
Animals of the classification 'monotremata' are commonly known as monotremes. They are egg-laying mammals. The two monotremes are the platypus and the echidna.
There are two egg-laying mammals. The platypus and the echidna are both egg-laying mammals, or monotremes.They are still classified as mammals because they feed their young on mothers' milk - a characteristic unique to mammals alone.
There are just three known species of egg-laying mammals, or monotremes. They are the platypus and short-beaked echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus) of Australia, and the long-beaked echidna (Zaglosssus bruijni) of New Guinea. The echidna is sometimes called the spiny anteater, and there are several sub-species of the long-beaked echidna: the Western long-beaked echidna, Sir David's long-beaked echidna and the Eastern long-beaked echidna.
Do monotremes hibernate in the winter?
Yes and no. Monotremes include platypuses and echidnas. Platypuses do not hibernate. In the southern regions of Australia, the short-beaked echidna may enter a period of torpor during Autumn, usually ending around the winter solstice.
