Platypus

The duck-billed platypus, found only in eastern Australia, lives in streams, rivers, and occasionally lakes with year-round water. It feeds mostly on bottom-dwelling aquatic insect larvae, which it finds by probing the streambed with its pliable, sensitive bill. It grows to a maximum size of 2.2 to 5.3 pounds. One of only a few venomous mammals, the male platypus has a poison gland in the hind leg that opens through a bony spur on the ankle. The spur is used to defend against predators and possibly to defend its territory against other males. The females lack the venom gland and bony spur.

A platypus (Greek platys,”broad”; pous,”foot”), or duckbill, is a semiaquatic, egg-laying mammal native to Tasmania and southern and eastern Australia. The animal has a bill that resembles a duck bill but is actually an elongated snout covered with soft, moist, leathery skin and sensitive nerve endings. The body of the platypus is 12 to 18 inches long; the flattened tail measures 4 to 6 inches in length. The feet are webbed. The body and tail are covered with a thick, soft, woolly layer of fur, from which long, flat hairs protrude. The most conspicuous feature of the small head is the bill, which is about 2.5 inches long and 2 inches wide and which the animal uses for detecting prey and stirring up mud at the bottom of rivers in order to uncover the insects, worms, and shellfish on which it feeds. The head is joined directly to the body without an apparent neck. The platypus's eyes are small, and it has no external ears, but it has keen senses of sight and hearing. Young platypuses have rudimentary teeth; in adults the teeth are replaced by a few horny plates. Adult males have a hollow, horny spur on the inner side of the hind leg, from which a toxic fluid is ejected and which may be used as a weapon of defense. The call of the platypus is a low growl.

Duckbills are shy animals and are seldom observed, even in localities where they abound. They are active only during the early morning and late evening, and are excellent swimmers and divers. They live in long, winding burrows, which are usually dug by the females in the banks of rivers or streams. The burrows are blocked with earth in several places as fortification against intruders and flooding. At the end of the burrow, which may be from about 30 to 59 feet in length, the female constructs a bed of weeds, leaves, and grass, which it uses as a nest for the eggs and young, and for a retreat. The male is excluded from the nesting burrow. The female lays usually two but sometimes as many as four eggs in a clutch. The young animals have no fur when they hatch. The female uses its tail to clasp the young to its abdomen, enabling them to nurse. Platypuses are unfortunately sometimes captured as biological curiosities, but the hunting of platypuses is forbidden by law.

Scientific classification: The platypus makes up the family Ornithorhynchidae, in the order Monotremata. It is classified as Ornithorhynchus anatinus.