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The platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus), sometimes referred to as the duck-billed platypus, 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 appear ...
The platypus has an average body temperature of about 31 °C (88 °F) rather than the averages of 35 °C (95 °F) for marsupials and 37 °C (99 °F) for placentals. [ 30 ] [ 31 ] Research suggests this has been a gradual adaptation to the harsh, marginal environmental niches in which the few extant monotreme species have managed to survive ...
The platypus is one of the few living mammals to produce venom. The venom is made in venom glands that are connected to hollow spurs on their hind legs; it is primarily made during the mating season. [1] While the venom's effects are described as extremely painful, it is not lethal to humans.
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, 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.
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Male echidnas have non-venomous spurs on the hind feet, similar to the venomous male platypus. [ 15 ] Due to their low metabolism and accompanying stress resistance, echidnas are long-lived for their size; the longest recorded lifespan for a captive echidna is 50 years, with anecdotal accounts of wild individuals reaching 45 years.
Billed snouts on the duck-billed dinosaurs hadrosaurs are strikingly convergent with ducks and the duck-billed platypus. [76] Ichthyosaurs (such as Ophthalmosaurus) [77] are marine reptile of the Mesozoic era which looked strikingly like dolphins. [78] Several groups of marine reptiles evolved hyperphalangy similar to modern whales. [61]