Week Ten: Platypus

Common Name: Duck-billed Platypus

Scientific Name: Ornithorhynchus anatinus
 
Fun Fact: The platypus is typically considered an adorable, if absurdly constructed, animal. However, the male of the species conceals a set of venomous spurs in his heels.

 

Domain: Eukaryota

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Mammalia

Order: Monotremata

Family: Ornithorhynchidae

Genus: Ornithorhynchus

Species: O. anatinus

Description: When scientists were first presented with a platypus corpse, they thought that they had been given a taxidermist’s joke: a mammal’s body sewn to a duck’s bill. However, the platypus’s absurd anatomy evolved just like any other animal’s body: through natural selection. Its “duck’s bill” is extremely sensitive to aquatic vibrations and is used to detect underwater prey, and its short, waddling, webbed feet are used for swimming. The platypus is covered in thick, glossy brown fur.

Environment: The platypus is indigenous to Australia, and inhabits environments that include bodies of freshwater including rivers and lakes. The typical home of a platypus is a small burrow in the earth, often located in the banks of the lake or river which it frequents.

Reproduction & Development: The platypus belongs to a unique group of mammals know as monotremes, which lay eggs instead of giving birth to live young. They are still considered mammals, however, because they produce milk and are covered in fur. The young platypus is raised by its mother in her burrow after hatching from its egg, which usually spends ten days outside of the mother’s body before hatching. The young nurses for on average seven months after birth, and will become sexually mature in their second year of life.

Nutrition: The platypus mostly relies on freshwater invertebrates and fish for its food supply. It hunts by swimming underwater with eyes closed, relying only on the nerve endings in its bill for sensory perception of its prey.