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The body and the broad, flat tail of the platypus are covered with dense, brown, biofluorescent fur that traps a layer of insulating air to keep the animal warm. [21] [26] [33] The fur is waterproof, and textured like that of a mole. [34] The platypus's tail stores fat reserves, an adaptation also found in the Tasmanian devil. [35]
Female platypuses, in common with echidnas, have rudimentary spur buds that do not develop (dropping off before the end of their first year) and lack functional crural glands. [3] The spur is attached to a small bone that allows articulation; the spur can move at a right angle to the limb allowing a greater range of attack than a fixed spur ...
A platypus typically measures 14.5 to 25 inches long from bill to tail. ... Male platypuses have sharp spurs on their back legs shaped like a canine tooth. These hollow spurs measure 0.59 to 0.71 ...
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 these taxa was also possibly a venomous monotreme. [43]
With a beaver’s tail, webbed feet, and a duck’s bill, platypuses are one of the world’s strangest-looking creatures. They are such an unusual mammal that the first scientists to study them ...
The spurs have enough strength to support the weight of the platypus, which often hangs from the victim, requiring assistance for removal. Most of the evidence now supports the proposition that the venom system is used by males on one another as a weapon when competing for females, taking part in sexual selection .
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