Platypus - an animal or a bird?

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The platypus is a very special way of evolutionary development, and it is possible to talk about it quite a lot, which, in fact, we will deal with further. Indeed, in this beast there is a mass of paradoxes and amazing features.

At first, when the European animals brought the remains, which had previously been a platypus, they did not believe at all in the existence of such an animal and considered brought by a joke. The duck's beak and some strange tail were attached to the beaver's fur - this is exactly what the platypus looks like. Nevertheless, in the future, the fact of the existence of this animal was confirmed and began to be studied in more detail.

Who is the platypus

As you know, scientists for convenience classify all animals. Strict division allows you to understand what features have different animals, who came from whom, and much more.

As mentioned earlier, the platypus is a separate branch of evolution, so at first they could not understand at all which class it was assigned to.

It has a beak and could well be called a bird, but it has fur like animals.
It has one outlet (cloaca) like reptiles or birds, but the female feeds the children with milk, like beasts.
The females, although they are mammals (while the mammary glands as such are absent, and the female simply releases the milk on the surface of the abdomen, from where the platypus licks it), but lay eggs, again like birds and reptiles.

Thus, there are signs that point to different classes of living beings and generally confuse and initiate a logical question - how can such a thing exist. By the way, many for this reason consider this animal to be a manifestation of a peculiar sense of humor in nature and evolution.

However, we will not be distracted by the humor of nature, but let us return to the classification of scientists who created platypuses and echidnas (also rather strange animals that also come from Australia, where there are many quite strange representatives of the animal world in general) is a separate unit in the classification. Now the platypus and echidna are representatives of the egg-laying order (also monotremes, cloacal or primary subclass), which have a set of features characteristic only of them.

The most interesting thing in egg-laying is the presence of many reptilian traits. However, they are not the ancestors of marsupials or any other animals. They developed completely separately and thus became something amazing, not like any other living creatures.

Features that the platypus has

Many have not seen this beast, even in zoos, only in pictures or videos. Therefore, people often do not even represent some basic facts about the platypus:

Its beak is actually soft and is a skin that stretches between the two arcuate bones that run along the sides.
The beak is used for a special feeling - electroreception, which is the recognition of electromagnetic field pulses from other animals, in particular, the platypus thus searches for various intervertebrates in water and feeds on these creatures - also with the help of a beak.
Paws, he puts on the sides of the body like reptiles, and not animals, which hold their four legs under the body during walking. By the way, thanks to this, the testicles of male platypuses do not require a scrotum, since the surface of the body remains cool and spermatogenesis (which requires a little cooler temperature than the general body temperature) can proceed normally.
The males of the platypus have a forked penis - also like reptiles, and the females have only one ovary, from which a pair of eggs hatch, which ten days after being in the duckweed hole give small platypuses.
Individuals open the shell of their own eggs with a special tooth on the beak, which is called the egg and falls off after a certain amount of time, like milk teeth in humans, for example.
The platypus is a poisonous animal, and for a mammal this state of affairs is extremely rare. A spur on its hind legs may well send an animal the size of a dog to the next world, and if a platypus hits such a spur a person, then he (that is, a person, not a platypus) will experience significant agony for a couple of days in a row, and these pains will not removed even strong anesthetics. Therefore, do not anger the platypuses (especially males, in females these spurs disappear with age).
The platypus can growl like a terrible predator and also makes other sounds that are also quite original.
The platypus becomes bald with age, mainly in the tail area. Also, young males have teeth that wear away with age.

Generally speaking, the platypus is a combination of the incongruous, it has a tail and an otter's paws and a duck-like beak. He lays eggs, and the young feeds with milk, it’s fit to say about this - a miracle of nature.

More seriously, such creations of nature allow us to see how many different ways evolution can go and how many options for living beings nature can create. Such creatures allow you to dream and learn a lot. On this basis, it is easy to understand - the possibilities of nature are endless.

Body structure

The platypus is a fairly compact creature that weighs up to 3 kilograms with a body length of up to 60 centimeters, a quarter of this length is occupied by the tail. Females in size, usually smaller than males, do not have a spike on their hind legs after the first year of development.

They have rather small eyes, but they see a lot and also hear great, but these feelings do not work under water. Therefore, diving, they use electroreception (this feeling allows you to catch, for example, the impulses that emanate from the contraction of the muscles of other animals), and drive their heads to the sides in order to look for their prey like shit or sharks. Its fur is soft, thick, color is dark. The eyes and ears are located in the depressions, which are closed when submerged under water, and the nostrils are also closed with special valves so that the water does not penetrate into these cavities.

Duckbones legs, which have a hybrid structure and can be effectively used both in water and on land, deserve special attention. In order to swim normally, there are membranes between the toes of the paws, which in a special way are folded on land and allow the claws to protrude. The platypus not only moves rapidly along the ground, but also digs the ground very well and builds various minks for its own residence.

In conclusion, this paragraph should note the physiological feature, which is the ability to regulate the temperature of his own body. In fact, the platypus combines the ability of reptiles and animals. On land, it maintains a temperature of just over 30 degrees, but if it dives in cold water a lot, then it reduces its own temperature to 5 degrees Celsius and thus perfectly adapts to external conditions.

Habitat and behavior

The platypus lives mainly in Australia and Tasmania, it is a rather shy creature, so it’s quite difficult to see how the platypus is walking or swimming.

This amazing beast spends a lot of time in the water, where it feeds on various worms and crustaceans. He eats in large quantities, as he has no stomach. In this way, the platypus can eat food approximately equal to its own weight, because the incoming “products” are not digested in the stomach (which is absent) but are immediately in the intestine.

The platypus enters a kind of symbiosis with the Australian cormorant. In the period of his swimming and diving to the bottom, he raises the silt and flushes out the fish, which float to the surface and thus provide themselves to cormorants. Therefore, if the platypus simply swims and does not dive, cormorants sometimes slightly “cheer” him up with their beak, so to speak, hinting that it dives again and drives the fish to the surface.

These animals prefer clean bodies of water, but in general are not particularly demanding, and therefore they inhabit almost any more or less corresponding to the required conditions water bodies of the eastern part of Australia. Although the animals are rather shy, you should not use the availability of platypus and flirt with them.

The most active animals are wonderful at night. Dive for prey 75 times every hour and stay under water for about 40 seconds. Thus, they are quite active and have little rest, continuing to "work" incessantly in search of food.

In the morning, the platypus returns to its own burrow, where it rests throughout the day. In order to be in his home dry, he makes a narrow entrance to the burrow and, when he creeps in there, he wipes his own fur on the edges, freeing himself from excessive moisture, which is fixed on his fur.

Features of appearance

Duck-bills have a slightly elongated, round body. It ends with a broad and flat tail, like a beaver. Both the tail and the short paws stretched between the toes of the membrane help it to float.

The eyes are very small. Ears - simple holes. Hearing and sight unimportant, but the sense of smell is excellent.

The unusual beak of the platypus has almost nothing in common with the beak of birds. He has the usual jaws of the beast, no teeth. But on the other hand, there are receptors so sensitive at the edges of the beak that, like sharks, they can catch weak electrical oscillations from moving prey.

Duckweed Platypus Spur

Females of smaller sizes, up to 45 cm long, weight slightly more than 1 kg. Males can be up to 2 kg, and the body is elongated to 60 cm.

Females do not give birth to babies; they, like reptiles, lay eggs. Only they are covered not by a shell, but by a dense cornea.

As such, there are no mammary glands. Milk just flows from the special ducts into the folds on the belly.

But this amazing features of the platypus do not end there.

Males are protected from enemies by spurs located on their hind legs. Their length is about 2 cm, and they are not just sharp, but also contain a strong poison.

Platypus Lifestyle

The whole life of the platypus passes near small calm rivers with low banks. It is on the shore that they dig a hole for themselves in the den, where they live permanently.

These animals are nocturnal, sleeping in a hole during the day. May fall into a short, 10 days, hibernation before the mating season. The goal of hibernation is likely to gain strength for reproduction.

Platypuses are very careful and rarely appear to a person, hiding in burrows.

Swimming platypus

In search of food out early in the morning or closer to the night.

Basically, they are looking for food at the bottom of the reservoir, shoveling with their beaks a mass of silt sediments. Capture worms, mollusks, tadpoles, any crustaceans, but do not eat right away. All the animals are stored behind the cheeks, and already on the ground they are crushed by the jaws.

The ability to electrolocation helps not to seize inedible objects.

They live one by one and do not form pairs. All marriage courtship comes down to the fact that the male grabs the female by the tail in the water.

In general, the tail of the female during this period plays an important role. To them she wears soft grass for bedding in the burrow, and she also closes the entrance to the burrow with earth. So she for 2 weeks, while incubating eggs, ensures her safety.

Cubs platypus

There are few eggs, one or two. After 7 days, the young hatch, also small, about 2 cm. They are completely helpless and blind. It is not clear why, but they are born with teeth that fall out after the end of milk feeding.

As many as 11 weeks, the small duckbill remains blind. And in the hole are 4 months. Mother feeds them with milk, only occasionally getting out of the hole for food. During this period, it is unusually voracious, can eat as much as it weighs itself.

In nature, live about 10 years. The main enemies are wild dingo dogs, monitor lizards and pythons. The platypus is protected from them with its poisonous spur.

For people who hunt the platypus because of their skin, the poison is not lethal, but a spur prick causes severe pain.

Because of the disturbed ecology, these amazing animals began to disappear, so they are specially bred in nature reserves and zoos.

Appearance and Description

The length of the body of an adult platypus can vary in the range of 30-40 cm. The tail is 10-15 cm long, most often it weighs about two kilograms. The body of the male is about a third larger than the body of the female.. The body is squat, with rather short legs. The tail part is flattened, with accumulation of fat reserves, similar to a beaver tail, covered with wool. The fur of the platypus is rather thick and soft, of dark brown coloring on the back, and with a reddish or gray tinge on the abdominal part.

It is interesting! Platypuses have a low metabolism, and the normal body temperature of this mammal does not exceed 32 ° C. The animal easily regulates the temperature indicators of the body, increasing the level of metabolism several times.

The head is rounded, with an elongated facial region, turning into a flat and soft beak, which is covered with elastic skin, stretched over a pair of thin and long, arcuate bones. The length of the beak can reach 6.5 cm with a width of 5 cm. A special feature of the oral cavity is the presence of cheek pouches used by animals to store food. The lower part or base of the beak in males has a specific gland that produces a secret with a characteristic musky odor. Juveniles have eight fragile and rapidly abrading teeth, with time replacing keratinous plates.

The five-fingered paws of the duck-bills are perfectly adapted not only for swimming, but also for digging in the coastal zone. Swimming membranes, located on the front paws, protrude in front of the fingers, and are able to bend, exposes quite sharp and strong claws. The membrane part on the hind legs has a very weak development, therefore, in the process of swimming, the platypus is used as a kind of steering stabilizer. When moving the platypus over land, the gait of this mammal is similar to that of a reptile.

On the top of the beak are nasal openings. A feature of the structure of the head of the platypus is the absence of auricles, and the auditory holes and eyes are located in special grooves on the sides of the head. When diving, the edges of the auditory, visual and olfactory openings quickly close, and the skin on the beak takes on their functions. A peculiar electro-location helps the mammal in the process of underwater hunting to easily detect prey.

Habitat and lifestyle

Until 1922, the platypus population was found exclusively in its homeland - the territory of the east of Australia. The area of distribution stretches from the territory of Tasmania and the Australian Alps to the outskirts of Queensland. The main population of the egg-laying mammal is currently distributed exclusively in eastern Australia and Tasmania. The mammal, as a rule, leads a secretive way of life and inhabits the coastal part of medium-sized rivers or natural bodies of water with stagnant water.

It is interesting! The closest, related to the platypus species of a mammal is echidna and prohide, with which the platypus belongs to the order monotremata or oviparous, and by some features resembles reptiles.

Duckbones prefer water with temperatures ranging from 25.0 to 29.9 ° C, but brackish water is avoided. The dwelling of a mammal is represented by a short and straight burrow, the length of which can be up to ten meters. Each such hole necessarily has two entrances and a well-maintained internal chamber. One entrance is necessarily underwater, and the second is located under the root system of trees or in fairly dense thickets.

Platypus feeding

Platypuses swim and dive superbly, and are also able to stay under water for five minutes. In the aquatic environment, this unusual animal is able to spend a third of the day, due to the need to eat a significant amount of food, the volume of which often makes up a quarter of the total weight of the platypus.

The main period of activity falls on twilight and night hours. The entire amount of food of the platypus is made up of small aquatic animals that fall into the beak of a mammal after it agitates the bottom of the reservoir. The diet can be represented by various crustaceans, worms, insect larvae, tadpoles, mollusks and various aquatic vegetation. After the food is collected in the cheek pouches, the animal rises on the water surface and grinds it with the help of horn jaws.

Breeding platypus

Every year, the platypus hibernates, which can last five to ten days. Immediately after hibernation in mammals, the active reproduction phase begins, which falls on the period from August to the last decade of November. The mating of a semi-aquatic animal occurs in water.

To draw attention to itself, the male gently bites the female by the tail, after which the pair swim for a while in a circle. Заключительной стадией таких своеобразных брачных игр становится спаривание. Самцы утконоса полигамны и не образуют устойчивых пар. В течение всей своей жизни один самец способен покрыть значительное количество самок. Попытки осуществить разведение утконоса в неволе крайне редко заканчиваются успешно.

Высиживание яиц

Сразу после спаривания самка начинает рыть выводковую нору, которая более длинная, чем обычная нора утконоса и имеет специальную гнездовую камеру. Внутри такой камеры из стеблей растений и листвы строится гнездо. To protect the nest from attacks by predators and water, the female closes the hole corridor with special traffic jams from the ground. The average thickness of each such plug is 15–20 cm. To make an earthen plug, the female uses the tail section, wielding her as a construction trowel.

It is interesting! Constant humidity inside the created nest allows to protect the eggs laid by the female of the platypus from harmful drying. Oviposition occurs approximately a couple of weeks after mating.

As a rule, in one clutch there is a pair of eggs, but their number can vary from one to three.. Platypus eggs resemble reptile eggs and are rounded. The average diameter of an egg covered with a dirty whitish, leathery type of shell does not exceed a centimeter. The laid eggs are connected by a sticky substance covering the shell outside. The incubation period lasts about ten days, and the female incubating the eggs rarely leaves the nest.

Cubs platypus

The cubs of the duckbill are born naked and blind. The length of their body does not exceed 2.5-3.0 cm. To hatch, the cub breaks through the egg shell with a special tooth, which falls off immediately after the release. Having turned on its back, the female places the hatched young on its belly. Milk feeding is carried out using highly enlarged pores located on the female's abdomen.

Milk flowing through the hairs of wool accumulates inside the special grooves where the cubs find and lick it. Small platypuses open their eyes after about three months, and milk feeding lasts up to four months, after which the babies begin to gradually leave the hole and hunt on their own. Sexual maturity of young platypus comes at the age of twelve months. The average lifespan of a platypus in captivity does not exceed ten years.

Platypus enemies

Under natural conditions, the platypus does not have a large number of enemies. This very unusual mammal can be a fairly easy prey for monitor lizards, pythons and sometimes sea leopards swimming in the river waters. It should be remembered that platypuses belong to the category of poisonous mammals and juveniles possess rudiments of horny spurs on hind limbs.

It is interesting! For platypus fishing, dogs were most often used, which could catch an animal not only on land, but also in water, but most of them "catchers" died slice after the platypus began to use poisonous spurs to protect it.

Females by the age of one year lose such a method of protection, while in males on the contrary, spurs increase in size and reach the length of one and a half centimeters by the puberty stage. Spurs by ducts are connected to the femoral glands, which in the mating season produce a complex, poisonous mixture. Such poisonous spurs are used by males in mating fights and in order to protect them from predators. The poison of the platypus is not dangerous to humans, but can cause enough

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physical characteristics

Platypus is one of two species of animals belonging to the order of monotremes. He is the only representative among the mammals belonging to the family duckbill. Translated into English, the word "Platypus"Sounds like" Platypus ", and is derived from the Greek" platus (flat, wide) and pous (webbed paw in animals).

Platypus has a number of characteristics characteristic of reptiles, including the use of the same hole for reproduction and breeding of waste products, the ability to lay eggs, the presence of additional edges, the internal synthesis of ascorbic acid. But even despite these characteristics, it has much more in common with mammals. The life span of this unique animal is 10-15 years.

The size platypus comparable to the size of a domestic cat. The body of the male is about 50-60 centimeters in length, and the females - about 40-50 centimeters. The weight of an adult male is about 2 kg, while the female of the platypus weighs 0.9 kg.

The entire body of the animal is covered with thick wool, except for the paws and beak. Outside, the coat has a brown color, and the undercoat is a yellowish tint. On one square millimeter of skin there are about 800 hairs, and in this it surpasses the fur of a river otter or a polar bear in density. The long hairs of the surface layer together with the fluffy undercoat are a brilliant protection. Thermal characteristics of fur platypus allow them to tolerate low temperatures.

Sensitive and soft beak the platypus has a blue-gray, blackish tint, with two nasal openings located at the tip. This arrangement of the nostrils allows the platypus to breathe even while the rest of its body remains under water. In this case, the lower part beak less top. It is fixed by two long dental bones, which are found in all mammals. Beak has the property of electroreception, the system of which contains about 850,000 electrical and tactile receptors. While under water or searching of foodplatypus closes eyes, ears and nasal openings. His electroreception system detects electric current produced by the muscular activity of small animals and may even help. platypus to feel the electric field created by the flow of water flowing over the prey, while it hides under rocks, mud and small fallen trees. Caught in the mouth the foodplatypus puts it into the cheek pouch, and then pushes it back into the oral cavity as soon as it emerges onto the surface of the water, and then shreds the food jaws.

The apertures or grooves are located on both sides of the head of the platypus, which does not have external auricles. The apertures are closed when diving or swimming underwater. On the surface, these holes are very sensitive to sounds. And his small, like beads, eyes are very sensitive to any movement. In the retina were cone-shaped visual cells, which indicates the ability of the platypus to distinguish colors. The location of the animal's eyes perfectly allows you to view the river bank.

Have platypus four legs, horizontally protruding in relation to the body. Because of this arrangement of paws, he moves on the ground, wagging like a lizard. Forepaws have large swimming membranes to help platypus move in the water, alternately waving with the front paws. On land, membranes can bend in such a way that sharp claws are exposed, which platypus uses when moving and for digging holes. On the hind legs, partly also equipped with membranes, there are curved claws that help the platypus to manage its movement and maintain balance during swimming. The claws also serve as an anchor for the animal during the digging of the earth, as well as for cleaning the wool in order to preserve its water-repellent properties.

The tail of the platypus is wide and flat, looks like a paddle. He serves him as a rudder when swimming and a spatula when cleaning the hole from the ground during the laying of tunnels. Its main goal is to “fat build up” during the period of lack of food either when platypus needs more energy for laying eggs. The thick tail of the animal is an indicator of the excellent health of its owner.

The body temperature of most mammals is 37-38 ° C, while the body temperature of the platypus is about 32 ° C. This reduces the level at which platypus loses heat while in the water.

Red blood cells platypus contain more hemoglobin than any other mammal, which allows it to remain without air for a longer period of time. Heart rate can fall from 140-230 beats per minute to zero.

Male and female individuals reach sexual maturity at the age of 2 years. It is noteworthy that in females only the left ovary functions. The right one is poorly developed and does not produce eggs. The same characteristic is inherent in birds. After mating, the female leaves the male and lays two or three eggs in its brood burrow. Platypus eggs contain a lot of yolk and are covered with a leathery skin, like reptiles. When chicks hatch from an egg, they feed silently from the mother's mammary glands. Nestlings do not leave the brooding hole until they are 17 weeks old. Only young platypus there are rudiments of teeth, which are then replaced by horny plates.

Platypus - the only poisonous fur animal in the world. Platypus born with the rudiments of spurs on their hind legs. In females, by the age of one, they fall off, while in males they continue to grow and become poisonous during the mating period.

Platypus able to make sounds that can be compared with a puppy squeak.

Habitat

Platypus live in all freshwater channels, rivers, lakes of eastern Australia from the Cooktown region in the north to Tasmania in the south. It can be found in 26 of the 31 river systems in the state of Victoria. Platypus they prefer long river basins with rocky shores, stagnant water, from one to two meters deep, rich in aquatic vegetation, with a sufficient number of invertebrates living in it.

Platypus protected by laws throughout Australia. Even so, he is considered a vulnerable animal due to the continuous reduction of its natural habitat due to the construction of dams, drainage and pollution of rivers. In Melbourne, population decline platypus was a consequence of the growth of the human population.

Platypus builds two kinds of holes. A normal burrow is used by both females and males as a living space, with the exception of the mating season, during which it becomes a “bachelor’s apartment”. This hole usually has a semicircular shape, with entrances on each side disguised by overhanging protrusions. Often these holes are located among the roots of trees. The other burrow, the breeding one, is dug out by the female for laying eggs in it, and then for raising the young. The passage into the burrow corresponds to the shape of the torso of the female of the platypus and is sloped in order to save the burrow in the event of flooding. The entrance to the hole is always located above the water. A female can build her burrow using eucalyptus leaves, thin willow rods or reeds, which she crushes with her jaws. To create the ideal incubation conditions, the female platypus it clogs a hole with several earthen plugs at a certain distance from each other. These traffic jams help protect against flooding and in a certain way protect against potential enemies. Platypus As a rule, they clean the wool and shake off the water before getting into the hole in order to keep the nest as dry as possible.

Throughout the year platypus must adapt to temperature changes both on land and in water. In winter, the minimum air temperature can reach -12 ° C, and water - 0 ° C. In summer, the air warms up to + 34 ° C, and water - to + 24 ° C. Even in a hole, temperatures range from + 14 ° C in winter to + 18 ° C in summer. Platypus adapts to these temperature fluctuations in a variety of ways.

As the temperature drops, the platypus produces more heat to maintain normal body temperature. This is achieved by increasing the level of metabolism, which requires more energy, and in turn, a greater amount of food consumed. It is at this point that the fat accumulated in the tail can be used if platypus can't get enough of food. Also platypus uses blood circulation to deliver heat to those parts of the body that need it, and this reduces blood flow to the hind limbs, tail and beak, not needing a lot of heat. Their thick, waterproof wool also retains a layer of air that provides good thermal insulation. Southeastern australia platypuses flow into in a short winter hibernation or half-sleep. These periods are short and irregular during the cooler months; the longest recorded hibernation period was 6.5 days.

Nutrition

Food for platypus Freshwater crayfish (various insect larvae), small shrimps, crayfish, earth and food worms, mayflies, dragonflies, mussels, trout eggs, frogs, tadpoles, small frogs and fish are used. Platypus looking for the food, diving to the bottom of the streams and at the same time in the raised silt leads his head from side to side. Such dives last about 40 seconds. Moving along the bottom platypus closes eyes, ears and nostrils and uses its sensitive beak to detect and capture of food. Platypus discovers his prey underwater, feeling the electric current created by the muscular contractions of the victim. That is why duckbill they are such magnificent hunters even at night or in muddy water.

Inner surface of the stomach platypus covered with hard keratinized epithelium. This area does not have glands that produce acid and digestive enzymes that serve to break down protein, like other mammals. It can be assumed that the grinding effect of ingested sludge contributes to the grinding of food in the stomach.

Fine duckbill consume volume of foodup to half its own weight. In order to collect this amount of food, you need to spend up to 12 hours. Summer duckbill consume even more of food and store more fat reserves in the tail. These stocks are used up when additional energy is required during the reproduction and egg incubation periods. Even during the winter cold, the duckbill continues to swim in search of food. During the winter duckbill in general, they eat 18% of fresh shrimp, 4% of the larvae of the May flies, 12% of the larvae of flies, 18% of the larvae of mayflies, 17% of hair moths and 1% of small mollusks daily. In the summer, the daily ration contains 64% of the larvae of the May flies, 18% of the larvae of other flies, 9% of the larvae of the vernalica and 9% of the larvae of dragonflies.

Among the animals that hunt platypus, you can select foxes, crocodiles, birds of prey, monitor lizards, pythons, large fish, cats, dogs and dingos. Water rats sometimes kill young platypus in the nest hole. The life of young individuals is also carried away by floods. Other factors that threaten this animal death are water pollution, established crabs for fishing, fishing nets. Particular danger due to the fact that platypus adapted to life only in fresh waters, they represent the pollution of its habitat and population growth.

Habits and lifestyle

Usually, duckbill are solitary animals with their particular habitat where they feed and live. The platypus is fearful and distrustful. He tends to lead nocturnalism and usually leaves his hole only in the early morning hours and in the evenings.

Platypus sleeps in a hole up to 17 hours a day. The average size of the hole is 1-3 meters in length, the entrance is hidden under water or directly above the water level. Adult individuals use their long claws to dig burrows through soft river banks. It is estimated that platypus can pave a tunnel 1 meter long in 2 hours. Wool care is very important for the platypus and is made by him both on land and under water.

Females and males reach sexual maturity at the age of 2 years. Until this age, males do not produce sperm, and females cannot lay eggs. The mating season lasts from August to October. At this time, usually shy males become aggressive towards each other. It was during this period that the spurs on their hind legs become poisonous and are used in the fight for territory and females. This poison is not lethal to humans, but can cause great pain.

Mating probably occurs in water. It is also possible that the spurs on the hind legs of the males are used to hold the females. The courtship ritual includes a variety of swimming movements, including swimming the female in a circle while the male pursues her, bites her tail and swims with her.

After mating, the female leaves the male and builds a brood hole, which consists of various winding passages and back streets. It also closes the entrance to the burrow in several places with earthen plugs and remains in this burrow during egg-laying and the entire incubation period. Platypid females lay between two and three eggs the size of a grape, and the entire incubation period lies on them, coiled into a ring, so that as a result eggs often stick together with each other. Cubs are born about 18 millimeters in size and do not leave the burrow until they reach 4-5 months old. During this time, they are completely covered with fur and reach 34 centimeters in length. They feed on milk, which stands out from the large mammary glands, located under the mother's skin. These glands can be up to one-third the length of her body. Milk is released through the enlarged pores on her stomach, through which the young feed. Milk platypus It is rich in iron and contains about 60% more than cow's. In addition, it contains about 40% of mineral substances, while in the cow - only 12%.

Platypus uses electroreception system to detect prey underwater. As soon as food gets into its beak, it pushes it into a cheek pouch, located at the back of the beak. When platypus emerges to the surface, it returns the contents of the bag back to beak and grinds food using horny plates located on the lower and upper jaws. The uneaten food remains, such as shells, silt or tin, and others, are removed through the horn teeth on both sides of the mandible.

Platypus able to make sounds that can be compared with a puppy squeak. Young duckbill use these sounds to attract playmates, and adult animals to communicate with each other. These sounds are made using the pharynx, characteristic of the laryngeal structure of mammals.

Platypus, beak, food

Photo1: Platypus mammal with reptile characteristics

The body temperature of most mammals is 37-38 ° C, while the body temperature of the platypus is about 32 ° C. This reduces the level at which platypus loses heat while in the water.

Platypus able to make sounds that can be compared with a puppy squeak.

Habitat