Jordan Cameron

Platypus
Ornithorhynchus anatinus
 The platypus, known by its binomial name as Ornithorhynchus anatinus, is a

nocturnal, small, furry brown mammal unique for its physical characteristics and traits.

It has a bill like a ducks, but does not open up to reveal the inside of its mouth. Its

mouth is on the bottom of the bill, while the bill is actually a sensory organ. The platypus

is special among mammals in that it has a sense of electrolocation, the ability to find prey

by the electricity from its body. The bill is lined with electroreceptors that sense the

electricity, and it determines the direction of the source by comparing the strengths of the

signals from the different parts of the bill, like a human does with hearing.

The platypus has another distinguishing feature among mammals, in that it is

venomous. The males have venomous spurs on their back feet, used in fights over

territory and mates. While the pain is not lethal in humans, it quickly causes extreme

amounts of pain that is enough to render them helpless. It is, however, lethal to dogs,

dingoes, and various other small animals.

The weight of platypi can vary from 2.2 pounds to 4.5 pounds. It can be

anywhere from 11 to 16 inches in length, with a tail length of 4 to 6 and 3 to 5 inches in

males and females, respectively. Males are about 33% larger than females. Regional

variation in size occurs, but does not seem to follow any particular climatic pattern.

The platypus’s rut occurs in late winter or spring and young emerge from the

water after three to four months. As one of only two types of monotremes, it lays small,

reptile-like eggs, usually two at a time. Newly hatched platypi are blind and furless, and

are fed through the mother’s milk.

The platypus lives in burrowed holes that they make using their strong frontal

claws. The entrance to the hole is usually about one foot above water level. After mating,
the platypus does the things explained in this essay. Why? Because it is a nocturnal,

small, furry brown mammal unique for its physical characteristics and traits.

It has a bill like a ducks, but does not open up to reveal the inside of its mouth. Its

mouth is on the bottom of the bill, while the bill is actually a sensory organ. The platypus

is special among mammals in that it has a sense of electrolocation, the ability to find prey

by the electricity from its body. The bill is lined with electroreceptors that sense the

electricity, and it determines the direction of the source by comparing the strengths of the

signals from the different parts of the bill, like a human does with hearing.

The platypus has another distinguishing feature among mammals, in that it is

venomous. The males have venomous spurs on their back feet, used in fights over

territory and mates. While the pain is not lethal in humans, it quickly causes extreme

amounts of pain that is enough to render them helpless. It is, however, lethal to dogs,

dingoes, and various other small animals.

The weight of platypi can vary from 2.2 pounds to 4.5 pounds. It can be

anywhere from 11 to 16 inches in length, with a tail length of 4 to 6 and 3 to 5 inches in

males and females, respectively. Males are about 33% larger than females. Regional

variation in size occurs, but does not seem to follow any particular climatic pattern.

The platypus’s rut occurs in late winter or spring and young emerge from the

water after three to four months. As one of only two types of monotremes, it lays small,

reptile-like eggs, usually two at a time. Newly hatched platypi are blind and furless, and

are fed through the mother’s milk.

The platypus lives in burrowed holes that they make using their strong frontal

claws. The entrance to the hole is usually about one foot above water level. After mating,
females live in deep burrows they make for themselves and their young, up to 20 meters

deep, and plugged at intervals to prevent high water levels from drowning them and their

young. The female will create a bed for her and her young by bringing in dead, folded,

and wet leaves.

They are known to live in the eastern part of Australia. Important to Australia,

they appear on the back of the 20 cent coin.

Platypi are carnivorous, feeding on various insect larvae, worms, freshwater

shrimp, and freshwater crayfish. It can use its claws to dig out these animals from the

riverbed when swimming.

The platypus still lives in the same area as it did before the European occupation

of Australia, except for the southern areas. The platypus was extensively hunted for its fur

from its discovery by Europeans until the early 20th century. While not in any immediate

danger of extinction, it has been classified under “secure but faces future threat” and

“common but vulnerable” statuses, because they are quite sensitive to water pollution. In

Australia, it is a protected species.

When Europeans first discovered it in the late 18th century, a pelt was sent back to

Britain from Australia for examination. The scientists that originally examined it thought

it was a hoax conjured by an Asian taxidermist, who would have taken a beaver’s pelt and

sewn a duck’s beak onto it. Whether or not it laid eggs was a topic of controversy,

because it is only one of two mammals that do. The fact was later confirmed in Australia

after being seen.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platypus