![]() The platypus snout is covered by soft leathery pigmented skin ( Fig. Females may also lose significant hair on the dorsal surface of the tail during the breeding season due to pugging of burrows (the process of building a mud partition within the tunnel). Platypuses moult seasonally with patchy loss of guard hairs. The platypus has a streamlined body that is compressed dorsoventrally and is covered by fur except for the bill and feet. Juvenile platypuses disperse, moving away from their natal stream. They depend on relatively undisturbed stream banks to support their resting and nesting burrows and show site fidelity with riverine home ranges of up to 7 km ( Gardner & Serena 1995). In some locations they are regularly diurnal. ![]() Platypuses have a solitary nature (except when breeding or suckling) and are mainly nocturnal, but may be crepuscular during the winter. Legal protection of platypuses was first given in Victoria in 1892, with all other states following suit by 1912 ( Grant 1995). Prior to their protection, thousands of platypuses were killed for the fur trade. They occupy a wide range of habitats, from tropical to cool temperate and pristine to degraded, and are classified as common but are potentially vulnerable to environmental perturbation ( Grant & Temple-Smith 1998). Platypuses occur in freshwater streams and lakes along the eastern seaboard of Australia from Cooktown to Tasmania, mainly east of the Great Dividing Range (west only in permanent rivers) and were introduced to Kangaroo Island in 1940. (2004a) recorded a female platypus surviving 21 years in the wild. Monotremes are long-lived for small mammals and have been maintained for up to 21 years in captivity. Bergmann’s rule applies to the platypus, with larger animals found in the cooler parts of their range ( Dunn 1949). Males are larger than females (45–63 cm long and weigh 1000–3000 g, females are 39 – 55 cm long and weigh 700–1750 g) and can be distinguished from adult females by the presence of a spur on the medial side of the tarsus ( Grant 1989 Connolly & Obendorf 1998). The Family Ornithorhynchidae contains one extant species, the platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus). The monotremes (‘one hole’) possess a common opening, the cloaca, for the reproductive, urinary and digestive systems, and the testes are abdominal (testicond). The platypus belongs to the Order Monotremata, the egg-laying mammals. ![]() Order: Monotremata – Egg laying mammals with a cloaca ( a single opening for the penis or vagina, anus, and urethra).The platypus is a highly specialised semi-aquatic, burrowing, carnivorous egg-laying mammal that is so well-adapted that it has survived relatively unchanged since the time of the dinosaurs. Subclass: Prototheria – Mammals that lay eggs. Subphylum: Vertebrata – Chordates with segmented backbones encasing the hollow dorsal nerve chord.Ĭlass: Mammalia – Warm-blooded vertebrates with hair, three middle ear bones, a 4-chambered heart, a neocortex (outer layer of the brain enabling high-functioning sensory perception), and females with milk-producing mammary glands. Phylum: Chordata – Animals containing a notochord, a hollow dorsal nerve chord, pharyngeal slits (embryonic gill slits), an endostyle (mucous producing gland in the pharynx), and a post-anal tail during fetal development and/or throughout their life cycle. Kingdom: Animalia – Multicellular, heterotrophic, sexually reproducing, eukaryotic organisms. Monotremes:Ĭheck out this cool video about monotremes!ĭomain: Eukarya – Organisms with eukaryotic cells. Whereas the spiny anteaters live solely on dry land, the duck-billed platypus is a semi-aquatic animal living alongside, and within, streams and riverbeds of the deciduous forests along the Eastern Australian coastline. Aside from the duck-billed platypus, there are also four species of monotremes called echidnas, which are more commonly known as spiny anteaters. Although monotreme species were more prevalent in the past, today there are only 5 known extant species of monotremes. ![]() In fact, the duck-billed platypus belongs to a rare order of mammals known as monotremes. However, today the species is well known as one of the only mammals that lay eggs rather than having live-birthed offspring. Having the body of an otter, the tail of a beaver, and the bill of a duck, the duck-billed platypus was once thought to be an imaginary creature of mythological origins. The duck-billed platypus is one of the strangest animals inhabiting our planet Earth today.
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