Platypuses

The platypus is quite a small animal. 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 1700 grams to 2kg. Platypuses in north Queensland tend to be smaller than their southern counterparts. Some Tasmanian platypus have been known to weigh up to 3 kg.

Platypuses in captivity have been recorded as living to at least 16 years. Whilst research has not yet established the life span of a platypus in the wild, it is believed to be about 10 years. It is estimated that, due to predation by goannas and snakes, platypuses in their natural habitat probably live closer to 4-5 years for males and 6-8 years for females.

Platypuses in captivity have been recorded as living to at least 16 years. However, because they are such reclusive creatures, little research has been done on platypus lifespans in their natural state. Whilst research has not yet established the life span of a platypus in the wild, it is believed to be about 10 years. It is estimated that, due to predation by goannas and snakes, platypuses in their natural habitat probably live closer to 4-5 years for males and 6-8 years for females.

The oldest recorded platypus in captivity lived to 17 years.

The platypus uses its 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.

Webbed feet animals, like frogs/toads, normally live in small ponds, river banks, streams or shallow waters. Ducks, for an example, can live in rivers or lakes, or even high or shallow waters. It isn't known for ducks or frogs or swans or webbed feet animals to live in the sea.

Animals such as fish, amphibians like frogs and salamanders, various types of insects such as mosquitoes, and some reptiles like turtles and crocodiles lay eggs in water. These eggs require a moist environment to develop and hatch successfully.

Platypus eggs are soft and leathery, rather than hard-shelled.

Platypuses live in an underground ground burrow located about 30 cm (1 foot) above the waterline of the river, creek or lake where it spends much of its time foraging for food. Platypuses are equipped with strong claws for digging, so the burrows can extend into the bank for up to 33 metres (100 ft). The entrance is usually disguised by furrows in the riverbank, or tree branches or roots overhanging the entrance. They will only dig in stable riverbanks, not clay.

In breeding season, the female digs a chamber at the far end of the burrow to lay her eggs. The burrow is dry and the chamber is lined with dry leaves and grass. This chamber protects her young from predators, temperature extremes and accidental drowning. She lines the entrance of the chamber with extra dry leaves to absorb and wipe off moisture as she enters the nesting chamber, in order to keep the chamber completely dry.

The platypus is in the mammal classification. It is a monotreme, or egg-laying mammal.

Sublimation is an endothermic phase transition from solid to gaseous state.

Humans are placental mammals, meaning that they develop with the embryo attached to a placenta that allows it to exchange waste and nutrients with the mother. The placenta would not be able to function inside an egg.

The platypus belongs to the family Ornithorhynchidae, which includes only one other species: the echidna. Echidnas, also known as spiny anteaters, share similar characteristics with platypuses such as laying eggs and having a unique combination of mammalian and reptilian features.

Egg laying mammals are monotremes. They belong to the order monotremata.

The correct spelling is platypus.

sea water as in the the white small ones that you pump up on the beach. Does this type of yabby eat carrot ??

The platypus is native to the Australian states of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. It can also be found in the far east of South Australia. It is found in freshwater creeks and rivers closer to the coast, although it can be found some distance inland.

Platypuses are monotremes, or egg-laying mammals.

To some, platypuses may be considered to be strange because they are unique to Australia and one of only two types of mammals to lay eggs instead of giving birth to live young. (The other type is the echidna.)

The platypus's appearance is also unusual - it has a duck-like bill, a sleek and streamlined otter-like body, a short, thick tail like a beaver, the male has a venomous spur, and its feet are webbed. It uses its sensitive bill which is equipped with electroreceptors to find food underwater.

Platypuses have feet with retractable webbing. They have webbed feet which help when they are swimming, but their unique design is such that the webbing membrane can be retracted when the platypus needs to dig. As the webbing retracts, the sharp claws are exposed, and the delicate webbing is not damaged by the digging action.

No. Platypuses are not blind. In fact, they have acute vision. However, they do close their eyes when searching underwater for food.

They use a form of electric sensing, called "electroreception", whereby they detect changes in the electric field generated by their bill. The presence of something within that field would cause fluctuations in it, and so the platypus can 'see' the prey by electricity. They close their eyes so as to be able to use the electric sense more efficiently, in the same way that closing our eyes often helps to hear better - it removes confusion.

The position of a platypus's eyes enable it to scan the banks of rivers and creeks to watch for potential predators. Because platypuses' eyes contain cone receptors, it is believed they can also see colour.

The platypus has sharp claws on its feet. The feet have a retracting webbed membrane which can expose the claws, enabling the platypus to effectively dig burrows

How about "Daffy"? or "Peking"? "Donald" works too, if you have no friends who would be offended.

The platypus is classified as a mammal. It has all the defining characteristics of a mammal, including the ability to nurture its young on mothers' milk. It is a monotreme, of the order monotremata, meaning it is an egg-laying mammal.

The newly hatched young are vulnerable, blind, and hairless, and are fed by the mother's milk. Although possessing mammary glands, the Platypus lacks teats. Instead, milk is released through pores in the skin. There are grooves on her abdomen that form pools of milk, allowing the young to lap it up.[3][33] After they hatch, the offspring are suckled for three to four months.