![]() ![]() David Collins, who arrived with the First Fleet as Deputy Judge-Advocate, provided an early description in the second edition of An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales: Platypuses-duckbills, watermoles, or duckmoles, as the European settlers of New South Wales called them-are found only in Australian freshwater lakes and streams. It is illegal.The platypus, Ornithorhynchus anatinus, whose combination of avian, reptilian, and mammalian features so puzzled nineteenth century naturalists and continues to fascinate people to this day. The opening of the burrow has a tight fit and squeezes water from its fur.During the day, it shelters in its burrow.Males have venomous spurs on their hind legs.It has a relatively low body temperature of 32☌, which is low for a mammal.It grinds its food between two bony plates on its upper and lower jaws.The platypus stores its catch in cheek pouches.Occasionally, it also eats fish, frogs and insects. The platypus feeds on small bottom-dwelling creatures.Its beak works like a metal detector or radar to locate its prey under the gravel of a river bed.This beak is flat, rubbery and looks like it's made of plastic.It is also called the Duck-billed platypus because it has a beak like a duck.The platypus uses its webbed front feet to paddle through water, steers and brakes with its back feet and uses its tail as a stabiliser.The platypus is about the size of a cat.The male platypus's spurs can inject venom into its victim. The platypus is an example of what early mammals may have been like.It has no nipples and oozes milk from pores in its skin instead.Platypuses are biofluorescent, their fur glows bluish-green under ultraviolet (UV) light. ![]()
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