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Platypuses
One of Australia's most unique and unusual native animals, the platypus is an egg-laying mammal which lives on land and hunts for food in the freshwater creeks and rivers of eastern Australia. Once incorrectly thought to be the most primitive mammal, it is now regarded as a superb example of adaptation. Questions and answers about platypuses can be found here.
996 Questions
Do platypuses have belly buttons?
No. Platypuses are not placental mammals, but monotremes, meaning that they reproduce by laying eggs. The young do not develop in the mother's womb, and therefore do not receive their nutrition via an umbilical cord.
no he isn't because he shows some compassion towards Rouge.
What are dangers to the platypus?
Platypuses have few enemies in the wild, because they mainly hunt underwater and live in hidden shelters, from tropical north regions to the sub-alpine areas of southern Australia.
The introduction of red foxes as a predator for rabbits is believed to have caused danger to the platypus. Feral cats are another platypus predator, but the platypus's principal enemies are humans.
Humans used to hunt platypuses for their fur, but they are now protected. The danger is now not from hunting, but from destruction of their environment. Also, the use of fishing nets in freshwater creeks and rivers resulted in large numbers being drowned, but this practice has been banned.
Natural predators of the platypus cause a danger, and include snakes, water rats, goannas, spotted quolls, eels, hawks, owls and eagles. In the north of its range, dingoes are another predator. Lower platypus numbers in far northern Australia are possibly due to predation by crocodiles. On occasion, large eels have been thought to take platypuses, which may be only half the length of a freshwater eel.
Another danger to the platypus is flooding. Young platypuses may be washed out of their burrows when floodwaters come, and few of these survive.
Tasmanian platypuses are subject to platypus fungal disease, or Mucormycosis. This fungal disease causes ugly skin lesions or ulcers to develop on various parts of the platypus's body, including their backs, tails and legs. These lesions become quite large, and are ultimately fatal. Death comes from secondary infection, and from the fact that the platypus's ability to maintain body temperature and forage efficiently for food is affected. It's not yet known how the disease spreads from platypus to platypus, but the mainland creatures are not affected.
Do all mammals feed from their mothers?
Yes. The fact that these animals feed their young on mothers' milk is one of the defining characteristics of all mammals, including the placentals, marsupials and monotremes.
Yes. The platypus is a mammal and all mammals have lungs. Even marine mammals such as dolphins and whales must use lungs to breathe. When swimming, the platypus must surface regularly to breathe.
No. Early scientists who first examined the platypus assumed that, because it lays eggs, it was primitive. More advanced scientific methods since then have indicated that the platypus is not at all primitive, but highly developed. It is one of the earliest known species, and one which had hardly changed from its earlier form, but this does not mean it is "primitive".
Does a platypus's sweat contain milk?
Yes and no.
In monotremes, which includes the platypus, there are mammary glands but no teats. When producing the milk, the mother excretes milk out of pores in the skin and the young platypuses lick the milk off the abdomen. The mother has grooves specifically designed to keep milk that is excreted out.
These glands from which the milk is secreted are modified sweat glands on the platypus's abdomen. In all mammals, the mammary glands are really little more than modified sweat glands, but it's the the absence of nipples which is more obvious in platypuses.
Interestingly, the male platypus's venom gland is also a modified sweat gland.
What texture is a platypus egg?
The egg of a platypus is leathery. It is not hard-shelled like a bird's egg.
Which group does lemur belong to egg-laying marsupial or pouched?
A lemur is not actually a marsupial at all. It is a placental mammal, meaning the young are fully developed within the mother's body, and not in a pouch. There is no such thing as an egg-laying marsupial. An egg-laying mammal is a monotreme, and there are only two such creatures in the world, the platypus and the echidna.
What is the fathers role in a platypus family?
The father platypus plays no active role in raising or tending the young platypus babies. Once his part in reproduction is over, he returns to his solitary lifestyle.
Australians most certainly do not eat platypuses. Long ago, the indigenous people of Australia hunted platypuses when they still lived their traditional lifestyle. In modern times, while some tribes live semi traditional lifestyles, they do not eat platypuses.
Where is a baby platypus born?
A baby platypus is hatched in a chamber at the end of the mother platypus's burrow, which is dug into the side of a riverbank.
Do platypuses breathe air or water?
Platypuses breathe air. All mammals, including marine mammals such as whales and dolphins, must breathe air.
Platypuses usually hold their breath for one to two minutes while they hunt and feed underwater, and they are capable of staying underwater for up to eight minutes if undisturbed. They must make hundreds of dives every day in order to find enough food, as they cannot live or breathe underwater.
What two mammals lay eggs in the south eastern US?
No mammals lay eggs in southeastern US.
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.
Does the male platypus come back after mating with the female platypus?
No. Once mating is over, the platypus has nothing more to do with the female.
What color is perry the platypus beak?
Why are platypuses ornithorhynchidae?
The scientific name of the platypus is Ornithorhynchus anatinus. The 'Ornithorhynchus' part means "bird-like snout". This is in reference to the platypus's unusual bill.
No. Platypuses do not eat fruit. They are carnivores, feeding entirely on freshwater invertebrates such as crayfish, insect larvae and annelid worms.
What is a platypus's mouth called?
The platypus's mouth is variously referred to as its "bill" or "snout".
Milk is produced by mammary glands which are found in breasts of mammals.
What is the aboriginal meaning of platypus?
Platypus is not an Aboriginal word. Instead it comes from the Greek root "Platupous" which means "Flat Footed."
Does an echidna feed its young differently to a platypus?
Yes and no. Both animals are mammals, meaning they feed their young on mothers' milk. However, neither creature has teats for the young to grab hold of. Therefore, when feeding, baby echidnas prod a small patch of skin inside the pouch. This pouch is where the egg is laid, and is little more than a flap of skin which the mother develops during the breeding season. Platypus young, on the other hand, feed differently. The mother secretes her milk through glands on her underside, which then runs into grooves, and the young platypus feeds on that, scooping it up with its bill.
What is the platypus' country of origin?
Australia.
They come from Australia. They lived for about 20 years before they became extinct. Its quite shocking that the TV show "Phineas and Ferb" used Platypus as their pet.
