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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
Can a platypus live in Kentucky?
Platypuses a native to eastern Australia. They are not found anywhere else. It is conceivable that they could live in Kentucky, but only if their biome and ecosystem supported their specialised needs.
Where are the nostrils of a platypus?
A platypus's nostrils are positioned towards the end of its bill, not at the top. See the picture at the related link below.
If platypuses are the only mammals to lay eggs how can penguins lay eggs?
Penguins are not mammals. They are referred to as flightless birds. Therefore, they are egg laying.
It is also not true that platypuses are the only mammals to lay eggs. Echidnas (both the short beaked and the long beaked variety), like platypuses, are also monotremes, i.e. egg-laying mammals.
Can a platypus contract or spread rabies?
Absolutely not.
There is no rabies in Australia, and platypuses are found only in Australia.
Furthermore, although it is believed that any warm blooded mammal can get rabies, platypuses' body temperatures are too low to harbour rabies. They have an average body temperature of 32 degrees Celsius, compared to most mammals' body temperature of 37-38 degrees Celsius.
What is the reproductive system of a platypus?
Unlike most mammals, the platypus has a cloaca (one exit hole for waste and eggs). The platypus uses internal sexual reproduction (they use intercourse to deliver sperm to the female). The baby develops inside the female in an egg. The egg(s) are laid in a burrow.
Another mammal with a cloaca is the echidna (It is also called the spiny anteater, but it is not at all related to other anteaters, it's just its nickname.)
How many colors can platypuses come in?
The platypus comes in just one colour. A platypus has dark brown fur over most of its body, with a grey undercoat. Its belly is gold-coloured or silky grey.
What do platypuses eat under water?
Platypuses do all their hunting for food underwater. 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.
How do you treat platypus sting?
People who have been "spurred" (rather than"stung") by a platypus report that the pain is strong enough to cause vomiting that may last for days, weeks or sometimes even months. Rest is the only cure. The pain cannot be relieved by morphine and other standard pain-killing drugs. It seems the only way it can be relieved is through anaesthesia of the main nerve from the spur site.
Is it wrong to be in love with a platypus?
That depends. Are you a platypus too? if you are not, then it would be considered wrong in most circles to be in love with a Platypus.
The platypus frog is also known as the Gastric brooding frog. It is listed as extinct because there have been no sightings of either of the two species in the genus since 1981. The platypus was unique because the young were incubated in the stomach of the female.
No, the platypus does not estivate. It is active all year around.
Yes, platypuses do have eyelids. They close their eyes when underwater, hunting by using the special sense of electroreception in their bill.
Do platypuses sleep on land or under water?
Platypuses sleep in burrows that are accessible from the banks of the creeks that they live near and in. These burrows can be from about 20 to 100 feet in length.
No. Platypuses do not eat mangroves or any other plant matter.
How much is a fossil of a platypus worth?
Probably very little. Platypuses are still alive and well, so fossils are of little value.
Not at all. Platypuses are mammals and alligators are reptiles. There is no part-mammal, part-reptile species. Furthermore, there are no alligators in Australia, but only crocodiles.
What are two reptile-like characteristics in the platypus?
The only reptile-like characteristic which platypuses have is the fact that they reproduce by laying soft-shelled, leathery eggs (and not all reptiles lay eggs, either). Apart from that, these creatures fit all the characteristics of mammals.
Does the presence of platypuses mean clean water?
Yes. platypuses are sensitive creatures that can live only in clean water. Polluted or saline water will drive platypuses away, unless they die first.
A platypus has to make some sort of vocalisation, and the nature of the vocalisation depends upon the shape and structure of its voice box. Growling just happens to be the noise made by young platypuses, or males engaged in territorial behaviour.
No. Platypuses do not live anywhere outside of eastern Australia. They require a specialised habitat.
