Platypuses

Many would say that a platypus's mouth is like a beak of a duck. It is rather different, with its bill being broader and flatter than a duck's beak. Inside the platypus's mouth are grinding plates, instead of teeth, with which the platypus grinds its food.

No.

Platypuses have lungs.

The main part of the platypus's body which it uses to find food is its unique bill. 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.

Of course, without the platypus's strong tail, which acts as a rudder, or its webbed feet, it would not be able to swim and dive in order to catch its food.

Platypuses are not blue. The colour of a platypus's fur is dark brown over most of its body, with a grey undercoat. Its belly is gold-coloured or silky grey.

Yes. Platypuses are mammals, and all female mammals - platypuses included - suckle their young on mother's milk. The only difference is that female platypuses do not have teats. The young must scoop up the milk which exudes into grooves in the mother's abdomen.

No. The platypus does not have teeth at all. Male platypuses have a hollow spur behind their rear ankle through which they can deliver a venom powerful enough to kill a dog or cause agonising pain to humans.

No. Platypuses feed only on live prey. Because their bills detect fine electrical impulses from underwater crustaceans and invertebrates, platypuses cannot locate the prey unless it is live.

Neither.

Platypuses feed on tiny crustaceans and insect larvae that live on the bottom of freshwater creeks, rivers and lakes.

Platypuses are very shy and avoid interacting with humans at all. They quickly disappear into the water or their burrows at the first sign of humans.

No. They are officially called a baby platypus, though some people use the term "puggle" instead. Young echidnas have been called puggles for a long time, but it seems to have caught on for young platypus.

"Platypup" has some popularity, too.

Puggle is already used for a cross between a Pug and a Beagle.

Please see the Related Question: answers.com/Q/What_is_a_young_baby_platypus_called

The male platypus has a venomous spur, not "poisonous claw", on each of its hind legs. Young females also have the spur, but it is not venomous and they lose it by about the age of ten months.

No. Platypuses do not eat fish. They eat small water animals such as aquatic insect larvae of caddisflies, mayflies and two-winged flies, fresh water shrimp, annelid worms, yabbies and crayfish. During summer, they eat more than during winter, in order to build up reserves of fat.

No. Male platypuses have venomous spur on their ankles, which are attached to venom glands in their thigh.

Platypuses are mammals: therefore, mother platypuses, like all mammals, feed their young on mothers' milk.

Platypuses have their place in their niche, and they are certainly not harmful to tgeir environment. Although they dig burrows, they are just above the waterline and do not cause erosion. Unlike beavers, platypuses do not make dams, so they do not affect watercourses.

Their primary food sources include worms, insect larvae, and freshwater shrimp. Even when they dig these up from the bottom of the river or creek where they dive and hunt for food, their impact is minimal.

Platypuses are mammals, but not marsupials (pouched mammals). They are monotremes, that is, egg-laying mammals.

After a short gestation period, the mother lays an egg containing the baby. About ten days later, the egg hatches, and the baby emerges. Marsupials also have short gestation periods, but after it is done, there is live birth. Baby marsupials crawl from the birth canal to the mother's nipple, to which they attach themselves for several weeks.

Platypuses live in creek banks and river banks because they are semi-aquatic mammals which breathe air, but which need to hunt in water in order to survive. Their food sources - insect larvae, crustaceans and annelid worms - lie at the bottom of creeks and rivers, and platypuses must make hundreds of dives daily in order to find enough food to survive. Therefore, it is best if they dig burrows, where they are safe from predators, with easy access to the water.

Unlikely. Platypuses are too large for owls to take. Platypuses also spend most of the night-time hours diving and swimming, and therefore are largely inaccessible to owls.

Yes: the mother platypus is a dutiful creature, tending her young carefully in a chamber at the end of a burrow, ensuring they do not get wet after she has been swimming and hunting for food. The young feed from mothers' milk for several months, as platypuses are mammals.

It is good evidence of continental drift as fossils of previous duck billed platypuses were found in America and Alaska, which Australia was once connected to. This means the platypuses once lived there hence evidence of continental drift.

Platypuses are mammals (although unusual egg-laying mammals) and, like all mammals, they feed their young on mothers' milk. The platypus does not suckle its young quite like other mammals do. It does not have nipples, but it exudes milk from specialised sweat glands on its abdomen.