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The platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus), [4] sometimes referred to as the duck-billed platypus, [5] is a semiaquatic, egg-laying mammal endemic to eastern Australia, including Tasmania. The platypus is the sole living representative or monotypic taxon of its family Ornithorhynchidae and genus Ornithorhynchus , though a number of related species ...
Both the platypus and echidna species have spurs on their hind limbs. The echidna spurs are vestigial and have no known function, while the platypus spurs contain venom. [ 42 ] Molecular data show that the main component of platypus venom emerged before the divergence of platypus and echidnas, suggesting that the most recent common ancestor of ...
A platypus bill may look like a duck’s bill, but it has a secret ability. ... While the echidna species has 400 to 2,000 electroreceptor skin cells, the platypus has 40,000 across the top and ...
The four extant species of echidnas and the platypus are the only living mammals that lay eggs and the only surviving members of the order Monotremata. [3] The diet of some species consists of ants and termites, but they are not closely related to the American true anteaters or to hedgehogs. Their young are called puggles.
The platypus, a duck-billed, beaver-tailed mammal that adores the water, is so beloved in its home country of Australia, the nation has featured the species on its 20-cent coin.
This contrasts with the modern platypus, where adults are entirely toothless. It has been theorized that the loss of teeth in the platypus was a geologically recent event, occurring only in the Pleistocene (after over 95 million years of tooth presence in the ornithorhynchid lineage) after the migration of the rakali ( Hydromys chrysogaster ...
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The platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus), sometimes referred to as the duck-billed platypus, is a semiaquatic mammal endemic to eastern Australia, including Tasmania.It is the sole living representative of the family Ornithorhynchidae and, together with the four species of echidna, it is one of the five extant species of monotreme – mammals that lay eggs instead of giving birth to live young.