![]() ![]() This hybrid name was accepted in accordance with the rules of priority when classifying animals with scientific names. The animal later became recognised as Ornithorhynchus anatinus, meaning bird-snouted flat-foot. So in 1803 Johann Friedrich Blumenbach published another description of the animal under the name Ornithorhynchus paradoxus - 'paradoxical bird-snout'. However, Platypus was already in use as the name of a genus of wood-boring ambrosia beetles. In 1799 he was the first to scientifically describe it, assigning it the species name Platypus anatinus, meaning flat-footed duck. George Shaw, keeper of the natural history collections at the British Museum (which were to later become the Natural History Museum), accepted the platypus as a real animal. But the platypus, as it was soon realised, was not among these. The platypus was once hunted for its valuable fur but is now protected by law.The nineteenth century saw a number of hoax animals on display, such as P T Barnum's Fiji (Feejee) Mermaid and Albert Koch's Missouri Leviathan. The female lays one or two eggs, which she incubates in the burrow for nine or ten days. It is active at twilight and lives in a burrow measuring as much as 10 m in length. ![]() The animal lacks teeth and a brood pouch.ĭistributed in eastern Australia and Tasmania, the platypus inhabits the banks of bodies of water and leads a semiaquatic way of life. The feet are webbed, and the front ones have strong claws. The tail is flattened and covered with fur. The anterior part of the muzzle is drawn out into a flat bill, which is covered with a soft, naked skin. The body is terete, low, and covered with a thick, soft pelt that is brown on the upper parts and grayish on the underparts. The body measures 30–45 cm in length, and the tail 10–15 cm the weight varies from 0.5 to 2 kg. (also duckbill Ornithorhynchus anatinus), the only representative of the family Ornithorhynchidae, subclass Monotremata. The platypus is classified in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, class Mammalia, order Monotremata, family Ornithorhynchidae. The female lacks nipples, and the young lick milk from the fur around the many small abdominal openings of the mammary glands. One, two, or three eggs are laid at a time and are incubated, in birdlike fashion, by the female. ![]() Platypuses live in pairs in simple burrows in stream banks, except during the breeding season, when the female makes a separate and more elaborate burrow containing a nesting chamber approached by a long tunnel. Prey captured underwater are stored in cheek pouches and eaten at the surface or on land. Its diet consists entirely of small freshwater animals dredged from muddy bottoms. The platypus is found from tropical swamps at sea level to cold lakes at altitudes of 6,000 ft (1,830 m). The adult male platypus is about 2 ft (60 cm) long, including the 5 or 6 in. Females lose their spurs at about one year of age. This spur is probably used as a weapon, but its use is unclear the males only produce venom during the breeding season. The heel of the adult male bears a hollow spur connected to a venom-secreting gland. The eyes are small and there are no external ears. It contains ridges used for crushing food the animal has no teeth. The muzzle is shaped like a duck's bill and is soft and rubbery. The head, trunk, and tail of the platypus are broad and flattened and covered with thick dark brown fur. The only other member of this group is the echidna, or spiny anteater. Also called duckbill, or duckbilled platypus, it belongs to the order Monotremata (see monotreme), the most primitive group of living mammals. Platypus (plătˈəpəs), semiaquatic egg-laying mammal, Ornithorhynchus anatinus, of Tasmania and E Australia. ![]()
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