![]() ![]() Platypus and echidnas are the only existing species of monotremes (egg laying mammals) on earth. Although many people have never seen one in the wild (due to their secretive and often nocturnal habits), most Australians strongly support their conservation. Since that time platypuses have continued to fascinate scientists and the public alike. This iconic mammal was so weird that when specimens first reached Europe at the end of the 19th century they were considered fakes. The platypus is characterised by a soft, toothless rubbery bill, webbed feet, fur and a single external opening to the urinary, digestive and reproductive tracts. Platypuses are frequently observed in the sometimes rare streams, rivers and lakes of one of the driest continents on the planet, where they often spend about 12 hours a day searching for food. Some aspects of their skeletons are similar to reptiles. Males have venomous spurs, females secrete milk through their skin, and their young are born into burrows dug into earth banks. It uses electro-receptors in its rubbery bill to find food on the bottom of freshwater streams, lakes and ponds. It occupies a wide range of habitats from alpine streams and ponds that freeze in winter, to the tepid waters of tropical north Queensland. The platypus ( Ornithorhynchus anatinus) is an egg-laying, semi-aquatic mammal that lives in Tasmania and along the eastern coast of mainland Australia.
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