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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 ...
Like birds and reptiles, monotremes have a single cloaca. [20] Marsupials have a separate genital tract, whereas most placental females have separate openings for reproduction (the vagina), urination (the urethra), and defecation (the anus). In monotremes, only semen passes through the penis while urine is excreted through the male's cloaca. [21]
A notable example of a bird with a pseudo-penis is the red-billed buffalo weaver, which do not use their pseudo-penis for direct insertion during copulation; however it does play a part in successful mating and stimulation. [15] Similarly to the red-billed buffalo weaver, the cassowary, a ratite, exhibits a pseudo-penis in both males and females.
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.
Platypuses may have some duck-like characteristics, but they are a rare type of mammal called a monotreme. Monotremes differ from other mammals because they lay eggs instead of giving birth. There ...
Monotreme penes are variously unusual; the platypus has a penis with a two-lobed (bifid) tip though the whole shaft is inserted in mating, possibly to engage both of the uterine branches, but the echidna's penis actually has four heads, only two of which function at a time.
Male echidnas have a four-headed penis. [26] During mating, the heads on one side "shut down" and do not grow in size; the other two are used to release semen into the female's two-branched reproductive tract. Each time it copulates, it alternates heads in sets of two. [27] [28] When not in use, the penis is retracted inside a preputial sac in ...
Cloaca of a red-tailed hawk. A cloaca (/ k l oʊ ˈ eɪ k ə / ⓘ kloh-AY-kə), pl.: cloacae (/ k l oʊ ˈ eɪ s i / kloh-AY-see or / k l oʊ ˈ eɪ k i / kloh-AY-kee), or vent, is the rear orifice that serves as the only opening for the digestive (), reproductive, and urinary tracts (if present) of many vertebrate animals.