Animal of the Day: Platypus!

Off the top of my head: I covered the Echidna in an earlier Animal of the Day; the platypus is the only mammal beside the Echidna who lays eggs. Male platypuses have venomous spikes on their hind ankles. The bill of a platypus is leathery, not hard like a duck. Platypuses don't have nipples so they sweat milk out of mammary glands.  Platypuses are found in Australia and Tasmania.

With research: The first Europeans to come across platypuses thought the creature had to be some sort of elaborate hoax. Platypus means flat footed and is a Grecian name. The platypuses' scientific name, Ornithorhynchus anatinus, means bird-snout duck-like.

The platypus uses it's tail as a fat reserve like a camel does with its humps. Baby platypuses have teeth that they eventually loose; the teeth are replaced with pads of keratin. Female platypuses have spurs, like the males, as a baby but they fall off after their first year. The immune system of the male platypus produces the venom that is stored in theirs spurs. The venom can kill animals up to the size of the dog, and cause excruciating pain in humans.

Platypuses growl when disturbed. Platypuses find their prey by picking up on their electric fields; they don't use their eyes, ears, or nose for any of the hunt. Platypuses eat mostly crustaceans and need to eat 20 percent of their body weight per day. They also sleep for 14 hours in a day, possibly because of their low nutrition diet.

Platypuses have lived up to 17 years old in captivity and 11 years old out of captivity. Mortality rates are low in the wild due to predators such as eagles, the introduced fox, snakes, water rats, goannas, hawks, and owls.

Only the left ovary in a platypus is functional.

Mission Oh Canada: http://exhilerationwhenleaping.blogspot.com/2013/09/oh-canada.html