Platypuses

The platypus is completely unique and does not resemble any other creature at all. It is so unique that when the first stuffed specimen was sent back to England for examination, it was believed to be a hoax.

The platypus is sometimes known as the duckbilled platypus, because its bill loosely resembles that of a duck, and is of a shape not found on any other mammal.

In order to survive, the platypus needs a clean, freshwater creek with a ready food supply, as platypuses must eat the equivalent of their own body weight every day.

It is almost impossible for any animal sanctuary or zoo to replicate the exact needs of a platypus. While platypuses can be kept safe and alive in selected animal sanctuaries, in the last fifty years, only two platypuses have ever been born in captivity. No captive breeding programme has ever been successful.

It swims underwater with its eyes closed and detects its prey with its very sensitive bill, which also can detect electrical impulses, similar to the snout of a shark.

It dives down to the bottom of a lake, river, or stream, and wiggles its bill in the sand. The electro receptors in its bill senses its prey. The Platypus grabsits prey and stores it in cheek pouches until it reaches the surface, and then it moves the food forward and grinds it up with its grinding pads.

The platypus is a mammal. Although it lays eggs in a burrow, and hunts for food in the water, it is a warm-blooded mammal that breathes using lungs, not gills. It also feeds its young on mothers' milk, something which no fish does.

Yes. Mother platypuses look after the young platypuses, nursing them until they are independent. Even then, the platypuses may stay with their mother until they are ready to reproduce, at about two years of age. The male platypus has no part in raising the young.

Reptile have five toes...like humans...they look scaly.

The platypus is not difficult to classify: it possesses the defining characteristic of mammals, which is nurturing the young with mothers' milk. It has all other characteristics of mammals, such as breathing through lungs, having fur on its body, and having a four-chambered heart.

The only way it differs from mammals is that it happens to lay eggs. This is not so unusual, given that no other vertebrate group (except for birds) has only one method of reproduction.

A Papua could only survive in the desert if there was a permanent water source there, and a suitable muddy riverbank in which to dig its burrow. Being nocturnal, their shelter would be adequate protection during the hot days. Platypuses need to hunt for their food in freshwater creeks and rivers. Without a readily available food source, the platypus would die.

Monotremes are the only egg-laying mammals. They are fully mammal because they feed their young on mothers' milk.

Marsupials are the only mammals to give birth to undeveloped young after a short gestation period. These young are unable to exist independently of their mothers' nourishing teats, and for the most part, they are protected by a pouch, or marsupium - although this is not the case with all marsupials.

Platypus families do not have any particular name, because platypuses are generally solitary creatures which do not generally live in family groups, except for while the young are weaning.

The family of the platypus is called Ornithorhynchidae.

A platypus is an egg laying mammal, or monotreme. Its actual species name is Ornithorhynchus anatinus.

Platypuses are not "poisonous", but adult males have venomous spurs on their ankles. Through this spur, they can deliver a venom strong enough to kill a small dog, and to cause almost paralysing agony to an adult human. Also, platypus venom contains a protein which lowers blood pressure, also inducing shock.

It is uncertain why or how this spur is used, but it is believed to be a defence mechanism for this otherwise vulnerable animal.

When Australia changed to decimal currency in 1966, the designer of he new coins was Stuart Devlin. Devlin chose native Australian animals to represent Australia's coins in a completely unique way. The platypus is certainly unique to Australia so it was an apt choice for one of the coins.

Yes. Male platypuses have a venomous spur on each of their hind legs, through which they can deliver a venom strong enough to kill a small dog, and to cause almost paralysing agony to an adult human. Also, platypus venom contains a protein which lowers blood pressure, also inducing shock.

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Yes. Platypuses have a variety of vocalisations. When they are disturbed, they may make soft growling sounds, like that of a puppy.

Despite the misnomer "duck-billed platypus", platypuses do not make a quacking sound.

When a baby platypus is hatched, it does have tiny, rudimentary teeth which fall out within a few weeks. These teeth are believed to be a throwback to the platypus's ancestors, as fossilised platypus teeth have been found.

Adult platypuses do not have teeth. Teeth are not necessary for platypuses, as they "chew" their food by grinding it between horny plates on their upper and lower jaws.

The Platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) is one of the few mammalian species in the world that lays eggs; a group known as the monotremes. Monotremes are extremely important in the study of mammalian evolution because of the adaptive transition from egg laying to live birth. By studying the genes and reproductive physiology of monotremes in comparison to marsupials and placental mammals biologists can determine how the reproductive strategy of live birth branched from precursory traits.

Platypuses are native to Australia, and are found along the eastern coast. Other animals which may live in the bushland nearby would include wallabies, koalas, possums, gliders, bandicoots and quolls.