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Platypus - animal, which is the symbol australia, there is even a coin with his image. And it's not in vain.

This amazing animal has signs of birds, reptiles and a mammal. Like birds, he lays eggs; he walks like reptiles, that is, the legs are located on the sides of the body, but at the same time, the platypus feeds its children with milk.

Scientists long time they could not determine which class to assign this interesting representative of the fauna to. But, since the cubs are fed with milk, they nevertheless decided that platypus - mammal.

The platypus itself is no longer than 40 cm, and even the tail (up to 15 cm), the weight does not exceed 2 kg. At the same time, females are much smaller. The body and tail are covered with dense but soft fur, although with age, the fur on the tail becomes thinner.

Of course, the special feature of the animal is its nose. This is, rather, not a nose, but a beak, although it is very different from a bird's.

The beak of the platypus is very interesting - it is not a rigid organ, but some two arched bones covered with skin. Young males even have teeth, only over time they are erased.

For swimming, nature seriously prepared this animal. The platypus has ears, but no ear shells.

The eyes and ears are in some recesses, and when the platypus is in the water, these recesses are closed, the nostrils are also closed with valves. It turns out that the animal cannot use its eyes, nose, or ears in the water.

But all the skin on the beak of the animal is so generously covered with nerve endings that the platypus not only perfectly orients itself in aquatic environment, but also uses electrolocation.

With its leather beak, the platypus catches even the weakest electrical radiation, which appears, for example, when muscles contract. Therefore, if you watch the platypus in the water, you can see how the animal constantly turns its head - it is he who is trying to catch radiation in order to detect prey.

Interestingly arranged and paws animal platypus. This is a combined "device" for swimming and for digging. It would seem that the unconnected was connected, but no, the animal miraculously helps itself in swimming with its paws, because it has a membrane between its fingers, but when the platypus needs to dig, the membrane folds in a special way so that the claws come forward.

With webbed paws, the platypus is convenient not only to swim, but also to dig the ground.

It should be said that when swimming, the hind legs are used only as a rudder, while the swimmer operates mainly with the front limbs. And another curious feature of the paws is that they are located on the sides of the body, and not under it. The paws of reptiles are also located. This set of paws provides the platypus with a special gait.

However, this is not the whole list of amazing features of the platypus. This is an animal that can independently set its own body temperature. The normal state of the animal's body at a temperature of 32 degrees.

But, hunting for a long time under water, where the temperature can drop to 5 degrees, this cunning miraculously adapts to the surrounding temperature, regulating its own. However, don't think of platypuses as harmless cuties. This is one of the few animals that is poisonous.

Platypuses can regulate their body temperature

On the hind legs of the males are spurs, where the poison enters. With such poisonous spurs, the male can kill, for example, dingoes. For humans, platypus venom is not fatal, but pain when meeting with spurs is guaranteed. In addition, edema is formed, which can last for more than one month.

The platypus lives in the waters of Eastern Australia, but in South it is already difficult to meet, because the waters of that area are too polluted, and the platypus cannot be in dirty waters and in salt water. In addition to Australia, this extraordinary animal is not common anywhere else.

The nature and lifestyle of the platypus

Rarely, what animal spends as much time in the water as platypus. A good half of the day the animal swims and dives under water, it is an excellent swimmer. True, during the day the platypus prefers to rest in a hole, which he digs for himself on the banks of some calm river.

By the way, this animal can easily sleep for ten days, go into hibernation. This happens, before the mating season, the platypus is simply gaining more strength.

After a daytime sleep, when dusk sets in, the platypus goes hunting. He has to work hard to feed himself, because he eats so much food per day, which is equal in weight to a quarter of the weight of the platypus itself.

Animals prefer to live alone. Even when breeding offspring, platypuses do not form pairs; the female takes all care of the offspring. The male, on the other hand, is limited to only short-term courtship, which for him consists in grabbing the female by the tail.

The female, by the way, uses her tail to the fullest. She has both the object of attracting males, and the steering wheel while swimming, and a place for laying fat, and a weapon of self-defense, and a kind of shovel with which she rakes grass into her hole, and a beautiful door, because it is with her tail that she closes the entrance to the lair, when he retires for 2 weeks to breed.

With such a "door" she is not afraid of any enemies. There are few of them in the platypus, but they are found. This is both, and, and even a marine one, which can easily arrange dinner from this amazing animal.

This amazing animal is very cautious, so get photo of platypus– great luck even for a professional.

Previously, the population of platypuses was exterminated because of the beautiful fur of the animal.

Platypus nutrition

Platypuses themselves prefer a menu of small animals that live in the water. A wonderful food for this animal is the larvae of various insects, all kinds of crustaceans. If tadpoles or fry come across, the platypus will not refuse, and when the hunt does not add up at all, aquatic vegetation will also fit into food.

And yet, it rarely comes to vegetation. The platypus is not only capable of deftly catching, but also miraculously able to get its food. In order to get to the next worm, the platypus deftly rakes the silt with its claws and turns over the stones with its nose.

However, the animal is in no hurry to swallow food. First, he stuffs his cheek pouches, and only then, rising to the surface and lying on the surface of the water, he begins a meal - he grinds everything he has got.

Reproduction and lifespan

After mating, a month later, the female begins to dig a deep hole, lays it out with soft grass, and lays eggs, which are very few, 2 less often 3. The eggs are glued together, and the female is laid in a ball on them, so that in two weeks babies will appear.

These are very tiny lumps, only 2 cm in size. Like many animals, they are born blind, but with teeth. Their teeth disappear immediately after breastfeeding.

Baby platypus hatch from eggs

Eyes begin to open only after 11 weeks. But even then, when their eyes are opened, the platypuses are in no hurry to leave their parental shelter, they stay there for up to 4 months, and all this time the mother feeds them with her milk. Feeding the female cubs is also unusual.

The milk of the platypus rolls into special grooves, from where it is licked by the kids. After the birth of offspring, the female lays the cubs on her stomach, and already there the animals find their food.

Getting out of the hole to feed, the female platypus is able to eat as much as she weighs during such a period. But she cannot leave for a long time, the kids are still too small and can freeze without a mother. Platypuses become sexually mature only in a year. And their total life expectancy is only 10 years.

Due to the fact that the number of platypuses was declining, they decided to breed them in zoos, where platypuses were very reluctant to breed. This special animal is in no hurry to be friends with a person until it is possible to tame them.

Although exotic hunters are ready buy platypus paying big money for it. Platypus price, maybe someone can afford it, but future owners probably don’t ask themselves if a wild animal can survive in captivity.

A charming animal that causes a smile and tenderness with its appearance is the platypus. He is very shy and leads a secretive life. God's joke - that's what they say about the appearance of this funny inhabitant of Australia.

Really, appearance the platypus is unusual. It seems that nature "folded" it, combining several different creatures. The animal is so unlike other representatives of the fauna that it is highlighted by scientists in separate view. In the appearance of the animal, the features of mammals, reptiles, and birds are bizarrely combined.

The beak is the first thing that focuses on when looking at the platypus. But it does not have rigidity, like birds, and has a structure that looks more like the mouth of a beast. The structure of the beak is soft, with a leathery coating. Young platypuses have 8 teeth in their mouths. Gradually, they are erased and take the form of keratinized plates.

The body of the animal is dense, ending in a flattened tail resembling a beaver's tail. The limbs are short, set apart on the sides, like those of reptiles. On the feet there are membranes that allow the platypus to move easily in the water. Small eyes set wide apart, ear openings without a shell. The entire body is covered with soft dark brown hair, which thins noticeably with age.

Low body temperature and reproduction by laying eggs make the platypus related to reptiles. Eggs are covered not with a shell, but with an elastic shell. Scientists did not immediately discover that the animal is a mammal. The female has no pronounced mammary glands. Milk flows freely from the ducts and collects in a leathery fold.

The animal lives exclusively on the Australian mainland and the islands closest to it. It was discovered in 1793 by an English colonist from New South Wales. The skin of the outlandish beast was sent to England. London scientists did not believe in the existence of such an outlandish individual and attributed its appearance to the art of Chinese taxidermy.

Only careful study allowed the scientist George Shaw to make a statement that the animal actually exists. Biologists have long argued to which class this unique representative of the fauna belongs. Not stasis mammary glands were found in females and the principle of use. Much about the appearance of the platypus and its way of life was surprising. It seemed that nature combined the incompatible!

Platypuses equip their dwellings along the banks of rivers or lakes. They dig deep holes in which they breed. The narrow tunnel is designed in such a way as to squeeze moisture out of the owner's fur.

The animal is an excellent swimmer and diver. In the water, he spreads his five-fingered foot, straightening the membranes, and with powerful strokes quickly moves through the water column. The role of the stabilizer is performed by the tail, and the hind legs work like steering.

The diet of the platypus consists of small crustaceans, insect larvae, and small aquatic inhabitants. In the water, the platypus does not have vision, smell, or hearing. But nature endowed him with the ability to electrolocation, with the help of which the animal senses the slightest movement of potential prey.

Today, the platypus population is small. The Australians have created a whole system of protection for this animal with numerous reserves and "shelters" in which the animal can safely breed. This beast, beloved by the inhabitants of the continent, is depicted on the reverse of one of the coins.

animal platypus

The platypus is a small waterfowl mammal, which is found on the territory of the Australian continent. It belongs to the order of monotremes, that is, oviparous. In addition to platypuses, this family also includes echidnas.

The world first learned about the platypus in the 18th century, at a time when there was a widespread colonization of New South Wales. The first mention of this strange creature was made in 1802 and described the platypus as an amphibious animal similar to a mole.

The discoverers noted that instead of a nose, this animal has a duck-like beak, which allows it to easily find food in the mud. The skin of the platypus was then sent to England for further study. For a long time, scientists could not come to definite conclusions about this animal, referring it to different families - mammals, reptiles, or even birds. Later it turned out that female platypuses lay eggs, and feed their cubs with milk.

Platypuses are small animals - from 30 to 40 centimeters in length. The weight of the largest animal is two kilograms. The animal has a squat body and short legs, and also have flat tails. The tail of a platypus is shaped like a beaver's tail and contains body fat animal.

The body of the animal is completely covered with thick short fur, which has a dark brown or red color. The muzzle ends with a flat beak, similar in shape to a duck's beak. However, the beak of this animal is unique in structure - it is soft and is a skin stretched over two bones.

platypus photo

The structure of the paws of platypuses is unique. They have five fingers with which the animal can dig the ground. Between the fingers is a membrane that helps platypuses move through the water. If necessary, the membrane "folds", exposing the claws of the animal.

Few people know that platypuses are poisonous animals. The poison is contained in their saliva and serves as a defense against enemies. With the help of this poison, they escape from wild dingoes and other small predators, for which it is fatal.

Platypuses are nocturnal, moving on land or water. Basically, they live near small bodies of water (lakes or rivers), and are most often found in Tasmania and the Australian Alps, as well as in Queensland. During the day, platypuses hide in their burrows, which can be up to ten meters long. Burrows usually have two entrances and a chamber inside. Platypuses make the first entrance to the hole from the water, and the second - from the land.

Platypuses need oxygen to breathe, but they can stay under water for quite a long time - up to five minutes. The water element is the main one for the animal, in which they spend more than hours a day logging. It is in water bodies that platypuses find their food sources - these are small animals living in silt (worms, crustaceans, insect larvae, tadpoles, mollusks). The platypus puts food in special bags behind the cheeks, and then eats on land.

In winter, platypuses hibernate, but it does not last long. After that, they have a mating season. Meetings of males and females of the animal occur in the aquatic environment. The male chooses a female and grabs her by the tail with his beak, and then they swim together for a while, describing circles. In order to lay her eggs, the female needs a special hole. It is up to six meters long and about forty centimeters deep.

Inside the burrow is a nesting chamber. The female builds a nest from plants that she finds under water, as well as branches and foliage of eucalyptus trees. After the hole is ready, the female clogs all the exits with earth, making her nest inaccessible and invisible to enemies.

platypus videos

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The platypus is a waterfowl belonging to the class of mammals of the monotreme order, or oviparous. This order includes only two families - platypus and echidna. The main difference between platypuses and echidnas from other mammals is the ability to lay eggs.

Where does the platypus live?

The platypus lives only in Australia. In the eastern part of the mainland, the range of the animal is quite extensive - from the Australian Alps and the Tasmanian plateau to the warm rain forests of Queensland. In the northern part of Australia, the platypus is found up to the Cape York Peninsula, and in the central and southern part it is completely extinct, with the exception of about. Kangaroo and the Murray-Darling River Basin. The reason for the disappearance of the platypus in the above regions was the pollution of river waters and intensive hunting for it until the beginning of the 20th century.

The platypus lives only near the coast with clean and fresh water. The home of the platypus is a burrow up to 10 meters long with two entrances. One entrance is in the water, and the other is above the water at a height of 1-3.5 m. Most platypuses are nocturnal, but there are also individuals that hunt well during the day.

What does a platypus eat?

Platypuses spend a lot of time in search of food - from 8 to 10 hours. Mostly by extracting it in the water, although they often find something to profit from on land. Turning stones near the coast with powerful claws or beaks, they often catch various beetles, larvae, worms and snails. In the water, platypuses eat small fish, crustaceans, tadpoles, frogs, and even aquatic vegetation. For holding vitality every day an animal needs to eat about a quarter of its own weight of a variety of living creatures.

The platypus is a dexterous hunter, the animal grabs its prey in a matter of seconds, and the victim almost never manages to get away from such a quick capture. Having caught the prey, the platypus does not eat it immediately, it picks up the catch in the cheek pouches and rises to the surface of the water. Then, lying on the water, he eats prey, rubbing it with horny jaws.