Platypus is a strange native of Australia. It holds the honor of being one of the only two existing monotremes mammals of the world. Its history dates back to 200 million years!
Surprisingly, it was discovered scientifically only as late as 1797, on the banks of Hawkebury River, near Sydney. Platypuses spend only 10 hours inside water for feeding and yet they manage to eat food as much as half of their body weight!
Platypus has a reptilian structure with unique combination of duckbill and webbed feet. It has a furred body with flat tail like that of a beaver. It also resembles a mole or otter in its appearance. Platypus has a fine and dense fur in two layers. The shiny outer hair and the woolly undercoat together hold the air next to the skin and keep it dry even when it goes for a dive. |
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Platypus does not have any external ears but it is quite sensitive to sounds. The maximum length for a male is 24 inches and 20 inches for a female.
Platypus' species is homeothermic. They are well adapted to warm and icy waters. Platypuses are generally found in fresh water bodies like rivers, streams, lakes, reservoirs, dams and swamps. They thrive in east of the Great Dividing Range from Cook town to Tasmania in Australia. They usually make two burrows - one for general living and the other specifically for mating. Nesting of the burrows is done with wet leaves, grasses and reed stems. Mating is usually polygamous in nature.
Platypuses are chiefly nocturnal and crepuscular by nature. They are opportunist predators. Platypuses' diet comprises insect larvae, snails, yabbies, worms, tadpoles and other fauna and shellfish. They also occasionally eat small frogs, small fish and fish eggs. These carnivores face danger from hawks, eagles and owls that occasionally capture platypuses in the water. Carpet pythons, goannas and Australian water rats may attack young platypus in the burrow.
Platypuses are very sensitive to sounds and highly secretive in nature. On a sudden noise or disturbance this secretive animal simply elopes back to its burrow. So to spot it on an excursion is difficult.
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