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The platypus venom has a broadly similar range of effects and is known to consist of a similar selection of substances to reptilian venom, and appears to have a different function from those poisons produced by lower vertebrates.
Male platypuses have sharp spurs on their back legs shaped like a canine tooth. These hollow spurs measure 0.59 to 0.71 inches long and connect to crural glands in the animal’s upper thighs.
The platypus is also used by some Aboriginal peoples as a totem, which is to them "a natural object, plant or animal that is inherited by members of a clan or family as their spiritual emblem", and the animal holds special meaning as a totem animal for the Wadi Wadi people, who live along the Murray River.
Platypus envenomation was fairly common when the animal was still hunted for its fur. Nowadays any close contact with the animal is rare and restricted to biologists, zookeepers and anglers (who occasionally catch them in fishing lines or nets).
A platypus bill may look like a duck’s bill, but it has a secret ability. The bill contains receptor cells that detect the electric signals made by all living things. As it swims in the water ...
You might've thought zombies were the creation of science fiction writers, and while that may be true for human zombies, animals are a whole other story. 10 'zombie' animals that really exist Skip ...
[1] [2] They are often distinguished from poisonous animals, which instead passively deliver their toxins (called poison) to their victims upon contact such as through inhalation, absorption through the skin, or after being ingested. [1] [2] [3] The only difference between venomous animals and poisonous animals is how they deliver the toxins. [3]
In other cases, certain animals were initially considered hoaxes – similar to the initial reception of mounted specimens of the duck-billed platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) [1] in late 18th-century Europe. In zoology, megafauna (from Greek μέγας megas "large" and Neo-Latin fauna "animal life") are large animals.