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PLATYPUS FACTS |
Description
The Platypus has short legs and a flat streamlined body. It has distinctive duck bill and webbed feet to assist swimming. The male has a 1.5cm long venom spur on the hind foot. The platypus has thick waterproof hair - dark brown on its back and yellowish underneath. The tail is made up of a fatty tissue used to store energy for when there is a shortage of food. It uses its tail for steering while swimming.
Other Names
Duckbill, Duck-billed Platypus
Size
40-50cm long including its tail
Habitat
They are found in freshwater dams and streams.
Food
invertebrates, small fish, fish eggs, frogs, and tadpoles. The platypus does not have any teeth and chews by grinding its food.
Breeding
Two white eggs about 16 to 18mm long They are like reptile eggs with sticky soft skin. The eggs hatch after 10 - 12 days, The young are about 18cm when hatched and remain in burrow for 3 or 4 months. The platypus and the echidna are the only egg laying mammals in Australia.
Range
only found in the Eastern parts of Australia from northern Queensland to Tasmania
Credits:
Map is from Atlas of Living Australia website at https://biocache.ala.org.au licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Classification
| Class: | Mammalia | | Order: | Monotremata | | Family: | Ornithorhynchidae | | Genus: | Ornithorhynchus | | Species: | anatinus | | Common Name: | Platypus |
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