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Platypuses, especially small ones, can be eaten by a variety of predators including spotted-tailed quoll, dingo, feral cat, goannas, water rats, owls and pythons. The platypus is midway in the food chain. Whilst there are other animals that prey upon this creature the platypus, in turn, is carnivorous and preys on small crustaceans, larvae and fish that live underwater.

Within its niche in creeks and rivers, the platypus is the top predator; below it are the shrimp and small crustaceans upon which it feeds; they, in turn, feed on zooplankton, which feed on phytoplankton.

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12y ago
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11y ago

Platypuses are carnivores. They are predators; they eat small water animals such as aquatic insect larvae, fresh water shrimp, annelid worms, yabbies and crayfish.

Platypuses catch their food in the water. They may make hundreds of dives in a single day. The bill of a platypus has sensitive electroreceptors which pick up tiny nerve and electrical impulses generated by crustaceans and other animals that inhabit the bottom of the creek or river. The platypus then uses its bill to shovel away the dirt, and find the food.

Platypuses do not have teeth, but hard bony plates which they use to grind the food.

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8y ago

This question cannot be answered simply. There are over 60 species of kangaroos, and the food chain is different according to the species.

None of the species are at the top of the food chain. Dingoes and eagles are at the top of the food chain, but the larger species most commonly recognised as "kangaroos" (Western Grey, Eastern Grey and Red kangaroo, as well as most wallaroos) are next on the food chain. They are all herbivores.

The smaller species of kangaroos such as wallabies and pademelons have more predators above them, such as hawks and other Birds of Prey, pythons, quolls and, in Tasmania, the Tasmanian devil. These species are also herbivores.

Then there are the tree-kangaroos. They have similar predators, but they are fructivores, or fruit-eaters, not herbivores.

Finally, there are the tiny Musky-rat kangaroos. Their food chain is far more complicated. They have numerous predators larg an themselves, but they are omnivores, feeding on small invertebrates such as earthworms and grasshoppers, as well as vegetation, seeds, fruit and fungi.

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13y ago

platypus lays in the middle of the food chain, there are many carnivores that are above the platpus in the food chain such as dingo, etc that the platypus see as a threat, however there is many animals below the platypus in the foodchain such as fish and other small creatures. :)

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10y ago

Platypuses are carnivores. They are predators; they eat small water animals such as aquatic insect larvae, fresh water shrimp, annelid worms, yabbies and crayfish.

Platypuses catch their food in the water. They may make hundreds of dives in a single day. The bill of a platypus has sensitive electroreceptors which pick up tiny nerve and electrical impulses generated by crustaceans and other animals that inhabit the bottom of the creek or river. The platypus then uses its bill to shovel away the dirt, and find the food.

Platypuses do not have teeth, but hard bony plates which they use to grind the food.

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12y ago

To find and catch their food, platypuses must make several hundred dives a day in order to catch enough food. They use the fine, sensitive electroreceptors on their bills, which detect the tiny electrical impulses made by underwater creatures which live on the creekbed or riverbed. After locating their prey, they dig up the mud with their bill to grasp them, crushing the creatures between grinding plates in their bills.

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8y ago

Echidnas' preferred diet is primarily termites, but they eat ants if termites are not available. Because of its spines, there are few animals willing to eat an echidna, but they are not at the top of the food chain, The Queensland museum used to have on display a fossilised snake that attempted to eat an echidna. Neither creature survived - obviously. The echidna's quills became stuck in the snake.Thus, the echidna is in the middle of the food chain.

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Q: What is the Australian echidna's food chain?
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Are Australian echidnas invertebrates?

No. All echidnas are mammals, and all mammals are vertebrates. Echidnas are different from "echinoderms".


What is the Australian outback food chain?

It's quite simply a childrens book. Here is a site you can buy one from or have a look over one. http://www.flipkart.com/australian-outback-food-chain-rebecca/0822574993-s7w3fy5gtb


Would animals be affected if echidnas died out?

All animals play a part in the food chain. The echidna feeds almost entirely on ants and termites, so one would expect that if echidnas died out, ant and termite populations would proliferate.


Can echidnas live around limestone?

it is unlikely. Echidnas can live anywhere there are termites and ants, and termites (the echidnas' preferred food) are only found near vegetation.


Where do echidnas hunt?

Echidnas do not hibernate.


What is unique about the indigenous Australian platypus and echidna?

Platypuses and echidnas are both monotremes, that is, egg-laying mammals.


Are there American echidnas?

There are no American echidnas. The short-beaked echidna only occurs in Australia, where it is common throughout the mainland and the Australian island state of Tasmania, while the long-beaked echidna lives in Papua New Guinea. In America you would only see echidnas in zoos.


Do humans eat echidnas?

No. The echidna is sometimes called a spiny anteater, but it bears no relation to anteaters. Anteaters are placental mammals, and echidnas are monotremes (egg-laying mammals).


Why is a komodo dragon food chain not a food chain?

It is a food chain.


Are echidnas nocturnal or diurnal?

Echidnas in northern Australia are nocturnal. On occasion, they are seen during the day when the weather is mild. Echidnas in southern Australia tend to be more active during the day, especially during winter.


What is the echidna food chain?

Short-beaked echidnas live almost exclusively on termites, although they also eat ants. The long-beaked echidna, which is found only on the island of New Guinea, feeds mainly on worms and insect larvae. Echidnas are not at the top of the food chain. Their main predators affect them when they are young. Snakes will sometimes enter their burrow and eat the baby echidna. Other animals do not usually attempt to eat this spiky creature, but some echidna predators include very brave foxes, dingoes and goannas.


How can you help echidnas going extinct?

Echidnas are not going extinct, so this is not an issue. They are highly adaptable to a variety of habitats, and as long as there is a ready food source of termites and ants, echidnas can survive in almost any climate found in Australia.