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.

Zebras

                      The Wild Ass    

The name "zebra" comes from the Old Portuguese word zevra which means "wild ass".

Every zebra has a unique pattern of black and white stripes.

Zebras  care deeply about their group members. When a group member is wounded by a predator attack, other zebras will come to its defence attempting to drive the predator(s) away.

Zebras  will only go to sleep if they are close to neighbours so that they can be warned if a predator approaches.

When zebras are grouped together, their stripes make it hard for a lion or leopard to pick out one zebra to chase.

Mother zebras are very caring and protective mothers. Infant zebras  are able to stand, walk and suckle shortly after birth, and will continue to drink their mother’s milk for the first year of life.

Zebras stand up while sleeping.

Romans called Grevy's zebras 'hippotigris' and trained them to pull two-wheeled carts for exhibition in circuses.

Zebras communicate with each other through various vocal expressions including sniffing and balking, but also through the position of their ears and tail.

They can turn their ears in almost any direction and harness this ability to communicate their mood, for example pulled backwards when angry, or standing erect when calm and friendly.

The female zebra typically gives birth to one foal after a gestation period of about one year. When a foal is born the mother keeps all other zebras (even the members of her family) away from it for 2 or 3 days, until it learns to recognize her by sight, voice and smell.

Habitat :Savannah, plains, and mountainous areas(Eastern and southern Africa)

Diet: Herbivores

Height : 4- 5 feet

Length:  7 –9 feet

Adult male: stallion
Adult female: mare
Adolescent female: filly
Adolescent male: colt
Young: foal

Life Span :12 years

Porcupines

THE QUILL PIG

The porcupine is also called the “quill pig”.The word 'porcupine' means 'one who rises up in anger'. 

Porcupines are lumbering, rotund rodents with needle-like spikes, called quills, covering their back, sides, and tail.

A single porcupine can have more than 30,000 quills, which are actually sharp bristles of fused hair. Quills typically lie flat until a porcupine is threatened. Porcupines cannot shoot them at predators as once thought, but the quills do detach easily when touched.

Quills are very difficult to remove once embedded.

Porcupines grow new quills to replace the ones they lose.


In some species of porcupine, the quills end in hook-like tips called barbs. Quills with barbs are especially difficult to remove.

 

Two main categories: Old World porcupines and New World porcupines.

Old World porcupines, living on the ground mostly in burrows.

New World porcupines spend most of their lives in trees. Some New World porcupines have tails that can grasp branches like monkeys.

The porcupine has the ability to swim as its quills are hollow and buoyant.

The majestic lions worst enemy is porcupine.

Female porcupines give birth to one or two young at a time. The male porcupine also helps the female in taking care of the young.

The quills of baby porcupines are soft at birth but harden within an hour

FAST FACTS
Weight: 2.2 to 40 lbs

Length: 25-36 inches

Tail Length: 6-12 inches

Habitat: Forests or brush-lands

Lifespan: 18 years

Diet: Herbivores

Males :Boar

Females :Sow

Babies :Pup or piglet

The Largest Arboreal animal