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Platypus: Ornithorhynchus Anatinus

The platypus is a small semi-aquatic mammal native to eastern Australia. It has the bill of a duck, webbed feet for swimming, and a tail like a beaver. Despite laying eggs, it is classified as a mammal because it produces milk to feed its young through patches of skin on its abdomen. The platypus hunts for food like insects and shellfish underwater using its bill, webbed feet, and tail, and lives both on land and in burrows near water. It is one of only two mammals that lay eggs instead of giving live birth.

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Maria Vanessa Jimenez Resullar
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644 views2 pages

Platypus: Ornithorhynchus Anatinus

The platypus is a small semi-aquatic mammal native to eastern Australia. It has the bill of a duck, webbed feet for swimming, and a tail like a beaver. Despite laying eggs, it is classified as a mammal because it produces milk to feed its young through patches of skin on its abdomen. The platypus hunts for food like insects and shellfish underwater using its bill, webbed feet, and tail, and lives both on land and in burrows near water. It is one of only two mammals that lay eggs instead of giving live birth.

Uploaded by

Maria Vanessa Jimenez Resullar
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Platypus

Ornithorhynchus anatinus

Type:Mammal Diet:Carnivore Size:Head and body, 15 in (38 cm); Tail, 5 in (13 cm) Weight: 3 lbs (1.4 kg) Size relative to a 6-ft (2-m) man:

Platypuses are mammals because, like all mammals, they feed their young on mothers' milk. This is despite their being egg-laying mammals. The defining trait of a mammal is to have mammary glands, to produce milk for its young. The platypus produces its milk from numerous glands over its underside, and the milk runs into grooves from which the young drink. This is unlike other mammals which have teats. There are other reasons why platypuses are classified as mammals, such as having skin, hair or fur, being warm blooded and breathing via lungs (not gills). Most mammals are also characterized by the following anatomical features, which the platypus shares: - A flexible neck with seven cervical vertebrae - Mammals also show enhanced neocortex development - Sound is produced by the larynx (a modified region of the trachea) - limbs are oriented vertically - The mammalian heart has 4 chambers - Internal temperature is generally high - Egg development occurs in the uterus (excluding monotremata) - They have sweat glands - A single lower jaw bone - Diaphragm - Three bones for a middle ear - Give birth to young alive - Feeds milk to its young - Has hair on its body

The platypus belongs to one family of the monotremes, the ornithorhynchidae. It has very unique and unusual features. In fact, a platypus is considered to be an assortment of a number of species, namely the duck (bill and webbed feet), beaver (tail) and otter (body and fur). Platypuses hunt as well as mate underwater, but live on land. Males are also venomous. They have sharp stingers on the heels of their rear feet and can use them to deliver a strong toxic blow to any foe. Platypuses hunt underwater, where they swim gracefully by paddling with their front webbed feet and steering with their hind feet and beaver like tail. Folds of skin cover their eyes and ears to prevent water from entering, and the nostrils close with a watertight seal. In this posture, a platypus can remain submerged for a minute or two and employ its sensitive bill to find food. These Australian mammals are bottom feeders. They scoop up insects and larvae, shellfish, and worms in their bill along with bits of gravel and mud from the bottom. All this material is stored in cheek pouches and, at the surface, mashed for consumption. Platypuses do not have teeth, so the bits of gravel help them to "chew" their meal. On land, platypuses move a bit more awkwardly. However, the webbing on their feet retracts to expose individual nails and allow the creatures to run. Platypuses use their nails and feet to construct dirt burrows at the water's edge. Platypus reproduction is nearly unique. It is one of only two mammals (the echidna is the other) that lay eggs. Females seal themselves inside one of the burrow's chambers to lay their eggs. A mother typically produces one or two eggs and keeps them warm by holding them between her body and her tail. Since the female platypus does not have nipples, its young ones suck milk from patches on the abdomen . The eggs hatch in about ten days, but platypus infants are the size of lima beans and totally helpless. Females nurse their young for three to four months until the babies can swim on their own.

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