According to the website, ideal habitat for these monotremes “includes permanent water, stable earthen banks consolidated by the roots of native riparian vegetation that is also overhanging the water, and an abundant supply of macroinvertebrates.” Needless to say, natural changes like prolonged drought or human-made alterations like dams, tree clearing, and development, all impact the platypuses’ necessary habitat. Overall, males are larger than females and can measure 16 percent longer and 40 percent heavier than them. For instance, a large male platypus in Tasmania can weigh three times as much as an average male in a northern population. So “Down Under” platypuses are smaller in northern regions, and larger in southern regions.
Generally, body size increases with latitude. There is considerable variation in size among platypus populations. The white spots on the fur under its eyes make it look like its eyes are open underwater, but they’re not. On land, the platypus has a reptilian gait because its legs are on the sides of the body, rather than underneath. Other interesting characteristics include extra bones in the shoulder girdle, which is absent in other mammals. While most other mammals have so-called live young, platypuses (along with echidnas) lay eggs, incubate them, and nurse their young. Of course, its major claim to fame is being an egg-laying mammal, or monotreme. Interestingly, freshly hatched platypuses have molar-like “milk teeth," but these are shed around the time they leave the nesting burrow. These pads are replaced continuously throughout its lifetime. They (and their relatives the echidnas) don’t have teeth, but instead grind their food between mouth pads made of keratin. Platypuses stow their prey in cheek pouches, and swim to the surface to eat. Moving its head back and forth, it can find prey nearby and swiftly move in for the kill. Additionally, about 40,000 electroreceptors help them find the direction and distance of prey (its eyes and ears are closed while it’s underwater) by detecting electrical impulses generated by living creatures. This strange-looking snout is laden with “pushrods” that respond to stimuli like touch, pressure, sound waves, and motion. It is dark colored, nearly black in contrast to its chocolate-colored coat. Its signature “duck bill” is actually soft and pliable, not hard like a duck’s bill at all. Its rear feet serve as rudders and brakes. Its plump tail serves as a stabilizer during swimming and stores extra fat for energy. While lumbering somewhat awkwardly on land to protect the webbing on its feet, they are sleek missiles in the water. Those big webbed feet help propel them through the water, and the claws make digging burrows a breeze. Mostly brown on its body, there’s a flash of white fur beneath its eyes, and its belly is lighter in color, too.
Long guard hairs protect the dense fur underneath, which stays dry even after a platypus has been in the water for hours. Platypus fur is waterproof and traps an insulating layer of air to keep its body temperature stable, even in cold water. Their dense fur makes fine insulation, both in the water and out. While their range is just one small area of the world, they weather many climate extremes (and fresh water sources) from toasty plateaus and rainforests, to the chilly mountainous regions of Tasmania and the Australian Alps.
At a glance, it looks like a hodgepodge of animal pieces stitched together: a paddle-shaped tail from an otter, a sleek body covered in dense, chestnut-colored fur like a mole, a wide, flat duck-like bill attached in front of its little round eyes, and big webbed feet like a pelican.Īll these characteristics come in handy for its freshwater lifestyle-that bizarre looking bill is laden with thousands of receptors that help a platypusl navigate the murky depths and detect tiny movements of potential food like shellfish or insects. The platypus is as fascinating on the inside as it is on the outside! Among Australia’s most iconic wildlife, this semi-aquatic, egg-laying species is also one of the few venomous mammals.
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