Platypuses
One of Australia's most unique and unusual native animals, the platypus is an egg-laying mammal which lives on land and hunts for food in the freshwater creeks and rivers of eastern Australia. Once incorrectly thought to be the most primitive mammal, it is now regarded as a superb example of adaptation. Questions and answers about platypuses can be found here.
Total questions 3800
On the Wallaby (supervisor) [2482]
reverted the answer of What are the advantages and disadvantages of platypus laying eggs to a previous version 13 Feb 2012 03:18
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wrote the first answer to Why does a platypus's heart rate must slow down so it can stay underwater for long periods of time 13 Feb 2012 00:55
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added Why does a platypus's heart rate must slow down so it can stay underwater for long periods of time to Platypuses 13 Feb 2012 00:54
Lily of the valley (supervisor) [219]
removed What is a giant vlarpin from Platypuses 12 Feb 2012 22:22
Unlike most mammals, the platypus has a cloaca (one exit hole for waste and eggs). The platypus uses internal sexual reproduction...
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Platypuses have few enemies in the wild, because they mainly hunt underwater and live in hidden shelters, from tropical north...
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Platypus courtship rituals involve the male chasing the female around in a circle. They have a complex system of side-passing,...
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The platypus is a monotreme, not a marsupial and there are just 2 species of monotreme mammals. As well as the platypus, there is...
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Platypuses are native to Australia alone. Platypuses live throughout eastern coastal Australia and its island state of Tasmania,...
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Yes. Like many semi-aquatic mammals, the platypus has a streamlined body. This enables the platypus to swim and dive faster.
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Platypuses do feed their young on mothers' milk, but the young do not suckle from teats. The mother platypus secretes milk from...
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Platypuses are mammals, so they cannot breath underwater.
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Platypuses are carnivores. They are predators; they eat small water animals such as aquatic insect larvae of caddisflies,...
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Not at all.The platypus is endemic to Australia, meaning it is not found anywhere else.
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No. Beavers and platypuses are from different continents.
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The platypus, although found only in the country of Australia (which includes the island state of Tasmania) is not endangered. It...
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When fully grown, platypuses vary tremendously in size, from just 600 grams (1.3 pounds) to 2.4 kg (5.3 pounds). Males are always...
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No - and neither does the male.The male platypus has a venomous spur, not claw, on each of its hind legs. Young females also have...
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Because they have been known to kill and eat them.
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The platypus is uniquely adapted to live in a semi-aquatic environment. It has: Webbed feet with a retracting webbed membrane...
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The platypus is quite unique and is not closely related to any other animal. It belongs to the order monotremata, as does the...
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Male Platypuses have ankle spurs on their hind legs through which they can dispense venom composed largely of defensin-like...
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Most species of Australian mammals are nocturnal, and this is usually an adaptation over time to help them avoid their main...
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No. If they could find one they probably would eat them but there are no tigers in Australia (outside of Zoos) and no Platypuses...
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Platypuses in captivity have been recorded as living to at least 16 years. However, because they are such reclusive creatures,...
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The Platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) is a semi-aquatic mammal endemic to eastern Australia and Tasmania. Together with the...
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No. A bat is a placental mammal, meaning that it gives birth to live young. The only mammals which lay eggs are the monotremes,...
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Platypuses have few natural enemies in the wild, because they mainly hunt underwater and live in hidden shelters. Natural...
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http://pl.atyp.us/platypix/index.html
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Platypuses do not have a poisonous bite, but adult males have venomous spurs on their ankles. Apart from several species of...
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Platypuses are only small creatures. A male platypus is 50-60 cm in length, whilst the female is smaller, averaging 40-50 cm in...
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No. Platypuses are found only in Australia's eastern states. They are endemic to Australia, including the island state of...
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No. The platypus is not produced by crossing any animals. They were in Australia long before white man came and started degrading...
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Platypuses are solitary animals, and do not live with any other species. They sometimes live in small family groups, but this...
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No: platypuses are endemic to eastern Australia, including its island state of Tasmania. They are found nowhere else outside of...
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A young platypus is simply called a platypus. There is no officially recognised term, although "platypup" is, rightly or wrongly,...
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One is spiky.
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The platypus fits this description. It is an egg-laying mammal, and while it lives on dry land, it is semi-aquatic, hunting for...
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Platypuses are not born; they are hatched, as the platypus is one of just two types of egg-laying mammals. The female platypus...
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The platypus is uniquely adapted to live in its semi-aquatic environment. It is found in freshwater creeks and rivers, within...
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The platypus has a variety of vocalisations. When they are disturbed, they may make soft growling sounds, like that of a puppy. ...
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Yes: specifically, it is a monotreme, which is an egg-laying mammal. The only other species which is an egg-laying mammal is the...
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The platypus is not endangered in Australia, and the IUCN, or International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural...
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A platypus is a mammal that lays eggs - a monotreme. It is one of only two mammals known to do so, the other being the echidna....
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The platypus is native to the Australian states of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. It is found in freshwater...
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A platypus lays between one and three eggs at a time, with the average being two. Females lay their eggs just once each year.
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Perry's body is teal, his beak is tangerine, and his eyes are black and white.
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A male platypus is 50-60 cm in length, whilst the female is smaller, averaging 40-50 cm in length. They are very lightly built...
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No, birds are strictly avians. Mammals that lay eggs are considered monotremes.
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Platypuses, especially small ones, can be eaten by a variety of predators including spotted-tailed quoll, dingo, feral cat,...
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Not at all. As of 2011, platypuses are not even endangered. The platypus is a protected species, and its current conservation...
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Platypuses are one of only two types of mammals to lay eggs. Fertilised platypus eggs stay in the mother's body for around 28...
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No. Platypuses are not blind. In fact, they have acute vision. However, they do close their eyes when searching underwater for...
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No, the platypus is a carnivore. It feeds on annelid worms, tiny shrimp and annelid worms that live at the bottom of freshwater...
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Platypus footprints are rarely seen. They are likely to be visible only near freshwater creeks and rivers in eastern Australia.
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No. It is illegal to have a platypus as a pet, and you would not be able to provide the conditions it needs. It would die very...
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Platypuses lay between one and three eggs at a time, once a year. Their reproductive years extend from around age two to at...
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Male Platypuses have ankle spurs on their hind legs through which they can dispense venom composed largely of defensin-like...
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Ornithorhynchus anatinus The original name was Platypus anatinus, from Greek and Latin words meaning "flat-footed, duck-like"....
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A platypus is a monotreme, i.e. an egg-laying mammal. It has dense, waterproof fur and a thick, furry tail, which is nothing like...
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Platypuses are mammals, but not marsupials (pouched mammals). They are monotremes, that is, egg-laying mammals. After a short...
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Platypus families do not have any particular name, because platypuses are generally solitary creatures which do not generally...
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Platypuses have few predators in the wild, because they mainly hunt underwater and live in hidden shelters, from tropical north...
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The only reptile-like characteristic which platypuses have is the fact that they reproduce by laying soft-shelled, leathery eggs....
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Platypus eggs are just a couple of centimetres in size - about the size of a grape. They average 11 mm in diameter. They are...
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No. The platypus has always been a platypus. It is not derived from the beaver, otter, duck or any other animal. There is no...
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No, they are only native to Australia.
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A platypus footprint will show webbing spreading out between 5 claws. See the related links.
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The platypus is sometimes known as a "duck-billed platypus", but this is a misnomer, as its bill serve a function quite different...
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The platypus belongs to the genus Ornithorhynchus. It is of the family Ornithorhynchidae in the order Monotremata.
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Platypuses are mammals because, like all mammals, they feed their young on mothers' milk. This is despite their being egg-laying...
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"Platypus" or "platypuses" are both accepted plural forms. The plural of platypus is not platypi. It is unfortunate that some...
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Platypuses reproduce via sexual reproduction. Platypuses reproduce by laying eggs, which hatch into young platypuses that...
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Differences between the platypus and the beaver are: A beaver is a rodent which bears live young; a platypus is a monotreme...
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When first hatched, platypuses weigh barely a couple of grams. When fully grown, platypuses vary tremendously in size, from just...
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Platypuses are one of two types of mammals which lay eggs. Unlike the echidna, the other egg-laying mammal (or monotreme), the...
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An adult male platypus is 50-60 cm in length, and weighs from 1700 grams to 2kg.
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A beaver is a rodent which bears live young; a platypus is a monotreme (egg-laying mammal) A beaver has large front teeth;...
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Platypuses eat small crustaceans such as yabbies that live on the bottom of creeks and rivers. They also eat other kinds of small...
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The platypus most of its time searching for food as it must eat the equivalent of its own weight daily to meet its own energy...
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In the early days of European settlement in Australia, the platypus was known as a water-mole. British scientist, Dr George Shaw,...
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Platypuses are not omnivores, but carnivores. They eat tiny insect larvae and other invertebrates, shrimp, shellfish and annelid...
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Platypuses and echidnas are both monotremes. The name monotreme is derived from two Greek words meaning "one-holed", because they...
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The platypus is a protected, native Australian animal. It is illegal to have a platypus as a pet anywhere in the world, including...
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The platypus spends ten days as an egg incubating within its mother, until the egg is laid. This is the first stage.The egg is...
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Platypuses live in freshwater rivers and lakes in Australia, within sub-tropical, temperate and sub-Alpine zones.
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The platypus has four legs. When on land, it walks. When in water, it swims. Its feet have retractable webbing between the toes....
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A platypus has dark brown fur over most of its body, with a grey undercoat. Its belly is gold-coloured or silky grey. Their feet...
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Both the platypus and the echidna are egg-laying mammals. They belong to the group known as monotremes and, like all mammals,...
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No. The platypus is a protected, native Australian animal. It is illegal to have a platypus as a pet anywhere in the world,...
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Platypuses do live in warm places, but they also live in cold places.Platypuses are found in a variety of temperatures and...
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Platypuses do not have duck bills and beaver tails.The bill of a platypus is quite different in size and functions to a duck's...
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Male platypuses have a hollow spur behind their rear ankle through which they can deliver a venom powerful enough to kill a dog...
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Plays mainly, although they have been known to enjoy the odd ballet.
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Platypuses do not give birth to live young. They are one of only two types of mammals to lay eggs. Fertilised platypus eggs stay...
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Well when a mummy platypus and a daddy platypus love eachother very much...
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The platypus is a mammal, sub class Prototheria. Like the echidna, it is a monotreme, which is an egg-laying mammal. This puts...
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Platypuses neither hibernate nor migrate. They are active throughout the year, and they tend to stay by their home pond, creek or...
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Baby platypuses are very shy, as are the adult platypuses.
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The platypus is not endangered. There was a time when it was under threat, being particularly prized for its fur years ago. The...
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