Facts about Platypus
It is one of the two mammal on Earth that lay eggs instead of giving birth to live young. It is the sole living representative of its family Ornithorhynchidae and genus Ornithorhynchus, though a number of related species have been found in the fossil record. It is an egg-laying, venomous, duck-billed, beaver-tailed, otter-footed mammal. The bizarre appearance of this egg-laying, venomous, duck-billed, beaver-tailed, otter-footed mammal baffled European naturalists when they first encountered it, with some considering it an elaborate fraud. It is one of the few venomous mammals. the male Platypus has a spur on the hind foot that delivers a venom capable of causing severe pain to humans. Monotremes are the only mammals known to have a sense of electroreception: they locate their prey in part by detecting electric fields generated by muscular contractions. The Platypus' electroreception is the most sensitive of any monotreme. The female Platypus has two ovaries but only one of them is functional, the left one. It is featured on the reverse of the Australian 20 cent coin. The Platypus uses its tail for storage of fat reserves. Unlike a bird's beak (in which the upper and lower parts separate to reveal the mouth), the snout of the Platypus is a sensory organ with the mouth on the underside. The Platypus has extra bones in the shoulder girdle, including an interclavicle, which is not found in other mammals. Their young have three-cusped molars which they lose before or just after leaving the breeding burrow; adults have heavily keratinised pads in their place. It has a reptilian gait, with legs that are on the sides of the body, rather than underneath. The Platypus jaw is constructed differently from that of other mammals, and the jaw-opening muscle is different. As in all true mammals, the tiny bones that conduct sound in the middle ear are fully incorporated into the skull, rather than lying in the jaw as in cynodonts and other pre-mammalian synapsids. However, the external opening of the ear still lies at the base of the jaw. The platypus is the animal emblem of the state of New South Wales. It hunts for around 12 hours a day. The Platypus is sometimes jokingly referred to as proof that God has a sense of humour. Its unusual appearance has led to its featuring in many media, particularly in its native Australia. Their weight varies considerably from 0.7 to 2.4 kg (1.5 to 5.3 lb). The plum-colored fur with a texture amazingly like that of a mole is waterproof. Their eggs are leathery-shelled. Male Plaptypus are larger than females with an average lengthh of 50 cm while females have an average length of 43 cm. The Platypus has an average body temperature of about 32 °C (90 °F) rather than the 37 °C (99 °F) typical of placental mammals. Research suggests this has been a gradual adaptation to harsh environmental conditions on the part of the small number of surviving monotreme species rather than a historical characteristic of monotremes. When the Platypus was first discovered, scientists were divided over whether the female laid eggs. This was not confirmed until 1884 when W. H. Caldwell was sent to Australia where, after extensive searching assisted by a team of 150 Aborigines, he managed to discover a few eggs. Mindful of the high cost of wiring England based on the cost per word, Caldwell famously but tersely wired London, "Monotremes oviparous, ovum meroblastic". That is, monotremes lay eggs, and the eggs are similar to those of reptiles in that only part of the egg divides as it develops. It was discovered that females lay eggs. The common name, Platypus, is Latin derived from the Greek words p?at?? ("platys", flat, broad) and p??? ("pous", foot), meaning "flat foot". Their life expectancy is eleven years in the wild, while in captivity they are known to live for as long as seventeen years. Their natural predators include snakes, water rats, goannas, hawks, owls and eagles. When the Platypus was first discovered by Europeans in 1798, a pelt and sketch were sent back to the United Kingdom by Captain John Hunter, the second Governor of New South Wales. The British scientists were at first convinced that the attributes must have been a hoax. George Shaw, who produced the first description of the animal in the Naturalist's Miscellany in 1799, stated that it was impossible not to entertain doubts as to its genuine nature, and Robert Knox believed it may have been produced by some Asian taxidermist. It was thought that somebody had sewn a duck's beak onto the body of a beaver-like animal. Shaw even took a pair of scissors to the dried skin to check for stitches. Their nostrils are located on the dorsal surface of the snout, while the eyes and ears are located in a groove set just back from it; this groove is closed when swimming. |
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