Platypus

The Weirdest Mammal 

PLATYPUS is small, amphibious mammal has a tail like a beaver, a body like an otter, walks like a reptile, has webbed feet and a beak like a bird, and it lays eggs!

Males are also venomous. They have sharp stingers on the heels of their rear feet and can use them to deliver a strong toxic blow to any foe.

Platypuses spend most of their time alone, sleeping or eating. Platypuses sleep up to 17 hours per day.

They have amazing snout. It is actually quite soft and covered with thousands of receptors that help the platypus detect prey.

They feed in the water at night, frantically swimming around with their eyes and ears closed( nostrils close with a watertight seal) , using their bill to search for their  food.

In this posture, a platypus can remain submerged for a minute or two and employ its sensitive bill to find food.

Their mouth has no teeth. Platypuses don't eat underwater. They store their food in their cheeks and bring it to the surface to eat.

On land, platypuses move a bit more awkwardly. However, the webbing on their feet retracts to expose individual nails and allow the creatures to run.

Platypuses are eaten by a wide array of Australian predators, including dingoes, foxes, large snakes, and even eels.

Each animal will maintain several burrows, usually dug in areas where there are overhanging branches and exposed roots to disguise the entrance.

Females seal themselves inside one of the burrow's chambers to lay their eggs. A mother typically produces one or two eggs and keeps them warm by holding them between her body and her tail.

The eggs hatch in about ten days, but platypus infants are the size of lima beans and totally helpless. Baby platypuses grow a temporary egg tooth to help them break out of their egg.

Mother platypuses don't have nipples like most mammals. They suckle their hatchings by secreting milk onto their fur from two milk patches on their stomach.

FAST FACTS

TYPE:         Mammal

Diet:          Carnivore (insects and larvae, shellfish, and worms)

Size:           Head and body, 15 in (38 cm); Tail, 5 in (13 cm)

Weight:     3 lbs (1.4 kg)

Lifespan:      Survive up to 20 years

Habitat:       Swamps, lakes, and rivers of eastern Australia and parts of Tasmania.