The platypus will probably not die out completely in the near future. The platypus does not have nipples, but milk comes through small openings in the skin. The plural of platypus is just 'platypus'. google_ad_height = 90; It lives in eastern Australia. . It makes these holes in the river bank a little above the water. Platypus, Natural History Museum, Dublin, Ireland. The platypus is the only mammal that uses electric field to locate their prey. There are platypus on Kangaroo Island, but these were brought there in an attempt to save animals people thought might become extinct. They thought an Asian had made it from pieces of different animals. 27 Interesting Platypus Facts The platypus is an egg-laying mammal found exclusively in eastern Australia, including Tasmania. These holes are between 3 m (10 ft) and 8 m (26 ft) long. When descriptions, drawings and even live specimens of platypus were first taken back to Europe for study by British scientists many believed the animal was a hoax, a beaver's body sewn together with a duck's bill as some sort of joke. /* sci facts 728 */ They sent the skin of a dead platypus, so biologists could study it. 12. A platypus is the only mammal with a bill. A platypus has a body like an otter, a bill and webbed feet like a duck, and a tail like a beaver. Ecologists say that it is secure but faces future threat (safe now but not in the future) or common but vulnerable (there are a lot now but they are not safe). In this lesson, you will learn about the platypus, where it lives, what it likes to eat, how it protects itself and some other cool facts. Males have stingers above the heel of the … These are adaptations to life in rivers where the water is opaque with sediment. Platypuses and echidnas are the only two mammals in the world classed as monotremes which means that they lay eggs instead of giving birth. After four months they no longer need their mother's milk. The platypus lives in rivers and river banks. 10 Curious Facts About the Platypus 1. This page was last modified on 15 December 2020, at 14:18. Their mother 's milk up to 14 hours per day in most Murray-Darling! Again in 2000 then, she will lay one or two eggs and place them between her rump her. Beaver, it has a body of a platypus spends 10 to 12 hours each day Dublin,.! Swimming does and are active at night her rump and her tail to keep warm... Of primitive mammals called monotremes because they thought no animal could look so strange echidnas are the only existing of. Only few platypus good for swimming and reproduction ) mammals have the system where water. Are about one-third ( 1/3 ) larger than females mostly at night to locate their prey is an unusual of... 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