![]() They are currently not listed as an endangered species thanks to conservation efforts in mainland Australia and Tasmania. Climate Change and modern development in their habitat regions are greatly affecting their breeding grounds and they easily become threatened again. Unfortunately, this species was declining due to the high demand for their fur in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They actually do not have nipples, but instead, concentrate milk to their bellies and then sweat it out. Female platypuses lactate to feed their young but not in the way we are most familiar. A mating dance is done by adult males to attract the females who then build a nesting burrow to lay there eggs. The Platypus breeding season begins around August and continues through early March. These Australian nocturnal creatures sleep in burrows and then spend their nights swimming and hunting small aquatic invertebrates. These amphibians are native to Eastern Australia and live in shallow bodies of water, wetlands, and agricultural lands amongst familiar animals like kangaroos and echidnas. The scientific name for the platypus is Ornithorhynchus agilis. They are nocturnal and nets meant to trap them often end up trapping other animals. Studying these animals is very tricky because they are hard to trap. They are one of only a few mammals that lay eggs, they have webbed feet on their hind limbs, a bill, and a thick fur coat. They confused scientists greatly because of their similarities to other species, yet were completely unique. The platypus was originally discovered by Europeans in 1797. Although Latin is considered a dead language it is still used in the science community for naming things. The origin of the word Platypus is Latin derived. In Latin, the plural form is platypi which is quickly becoming the accepted plural of platypus. If we used the Greek plural, it would be platypodes, but when Greek declined it became more acceptable to add “es” to the ends of words to make them plural. The word platypus is technically made up but derived from the Greek word platus and pous. The Commonwealth of Australia reveres this remarkable mammal so much that it honors the platypus with a place on its 20-cent coin.The most correct plural of platypus is platypuses. Baby platypuses hatch after 10 days and nurse for up to four months before they swim off and forage on their own. The female platypus lays her eggs in an underground burrow that she digs near the water’s edge. It has no teeth, so the platypus stores its "catch" in its cheek pouches, returns to the surface, mashes up its meal with the help of gravel bits hoovered up enroute, then swallows it all down. ![]() The bill also comes equipped with specialized nerve endings, called electroreceptors, which detect tiny electrical currents generated by the muscular contractions of prey. ![]() The watertight nostrils on its bill remain sealed so that the animal can stay submerged for up to two minutes as it forages for food. The platypus is a bottom-feeder that uses its beaver-like tail to steer and its webbed feet to propel itself through the water while hunting for insects, shellfish, and worms. While the platypus generally inhabits freshwater rivers, wetlands, and billabongs Down Under, it is also known to venture into brackish estuaries (the combined fresh-and saltwater areas where rivers meet the sea). If its appearance alone somehow fails to impress, the male of the species is also one of the world’s few venomous mammals! Equipped with sharp stingers on the heels of its hind feet, the male platypus can deliver a strong toxic blow to any approaching foe. The platypus is a duck-billed, beaver-tailed, otter-footed, egg-laying aquatic creature native to Australia.
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