The platypus, found exclusively in Australia and Tanzania, looks like a hodgepodge of traits from different animals. It has brown fur that makes it well insulated, a bill, a flat tail, venomous spurs, and webbed feet. It looks like a mix between a reptile, beaver, otter, and duck. One of the first seen, observers thought someone had sewn a duckbill onto a mammal. The platypus is one of three species in the order Monotremata, a unique species of mammals. The platypus is a small aquatic creature, and it only averages 465 mm (18 inches) lengthwise and 1.5 kg (3.4 pounds) in weight. The males are generally larger than the females.
Diet
Platypuses spend dusk to dawn hunting, and since platypuses are aquatic, they do their hunting in the water. When hunting underwater, they can seal their nostrils for up to two minutes at a time before having to come up for air. Since their nostrils are at the top of their bills, they can swim a few inches above the surface. They usually eat invertebrates on the bottom of the lake, river, pond, or stream they live in, but they also sometimes eat food on the surface. There are electroreceptors on their bill as well, which is a trait many sharks have. Electroreceptors help platypuses identify the location of their targets. This quality is good since they don’t have good seeing, hearing, or smell underwater. When an animal contracts a muscle, an electric field is created, and the platypus can pick up on the electric pulses that are sent. Once the platypuses have their food, they will use small rocks and grinding plates to eat their food.
Reproduction
These mammals are usually solitary. The only time you will see two platypuses together is when they are mating. Mating happens in the winter to spring months once a year, and it is pretty strenuous. The male will bite down on the tail of the female, and if the female does not accept the courting, she will try to escape the male’s grasp. They react by going through debris to shake off the male. After mating, the male will leave, but the female will dig an underground burrow. The gestation period is at least two weeks and at most a month. She will incubate for around ten days by touching her tail to her bill. The babies are born with milk teeth, and they suck milk from their mother's mammary glands. The mother has no teats. After nursing for four months, the babies will be independent. The females will start breeding at around age four. The babies will live up to 12 years in the wild (long for a small mammal).
Interesting Features
Platypuses have unique traits that make them well suited for aquatic life. They are good swimmers as their whole body is streamlined. A characteristic that helps them swim is their feet. Their webbed feet make it easy to go through water. They also have claw-like structures to their feet, and this makes them skilled at digging for prey. Their tails help them steer when they swim, but they also help them carry objects. They often use their tails to carry sticks to build burrows. They rest in these holes and cover the entrance when they want to be left alone. Another interesting fact about the platypus is their lack of a stomach. This trait is ancient, and that the mammalian DNA in charge of making stomachs is no longer in platypuses. Their food goes straight from their esophagus to their intestines. Male platypuses have spurs on the side of their feet, and these spurs are venomous. The males fight with their spurs during mating season, as spur marks are more uncommon on females.
