Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
A unique feature of the venom is the presence of a D-amino acid. This is the only known such example in mammalian systems. [8] This venom appears to be related to that of several species that are not part of the platypus's evolutionary lineage, such as certain fish, reptiles, insectivores, and spiders, sea anemones, and starfish. [9]
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 ...
This complex chemical cocktail is a dangerous defense, but it might also have beneficial qualities for humans as well. One hormone found in platypus venom, glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), plays a ...
Humans killed per year Animal Humans killed per year Animal Humans killed per year 1 Mosquitoes: 1,000,000 [a] Mosquitoes 750,000 Mosquitoes 725,000 2 Humans 475,000 Humans (homicide) 437,000 Snakes 50,000 3 Snakes: 50,000 Snakes 100,000 Dogs 25,000 4 Dogs: 25,000 [b] Dogs 35,000 Tsetse flies 10,000 5 Tsetse flies: 10,000 [c] Freshwater snails ...
Despite their awkward appearance, the platypus has a superpower-like sixth sense that it uses to hunt. With a beaver’s tail, webbed feet, and a duck’s bill, platypuses are one of the world’s ...
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]
Police in Australia have urgently appealed to the public to help find a man who allegedly took a platypus from its natural environment and onto a train where he showed it off to fellow commuters.
Bücherl states that venomous animals must possess at least one venom gland, a mechanism for excretion or extrusion of the venom, and apparatus with which to inflict wounds. Mebs writes that venomous animals produce venom in a group of cells or gland, and have a tool, the venom apparatus, which delivers the venom by injection during a bite or ...