Page 68 - Atlas Of The World's Strangest Animals

68 ATLAS OF THE WORLD’S STRANGEST ANIMALS

the flesh, however, it becomes clear just how strange they
Duck-billed platypus habitats
really are.
Although platypus numbers have fallen in recent years,
populations can still be found in eastern Australia and
Tasmania.They prefer river areas with muddy banks and
overhanging vegetation, and it’s here that they make their
homes. Platypuses have short legs, webbed fore feet and
partially webbed hind feet. In the water, their fore feet
move with alternate strokes, using a rowing motion to
propel them forwards. (Their hind feet and tail do the
steering.) On land, these feet are ‘turned back’, uncovering
their claws, which can be used to dig.
Platypuses are shy, solitary creatures and, apart from
when females nurse their young, each has their own,
private burrow.Those used by males are generally quite
short but ‘nursery burrows’ can be up to 18m (59ft) long
with a nest of leaves and grass at the end. Before laying her
eggs, a female platypus will block the entrance to her
burrow with earth to protect against floodwaters and
predators and ensure the safety of her new family.
The first British settlers in Australia weren’t sure what to
make of the platypus. Calling it ‘duckmole’, they were so Eggs-traordinary!
puzzled they sent the pelt from a juvenile male to Britain Platypus eggs develop in utero (inside the uterus) for
for examination.There, the first scientists to look at it, in about 28 days before they are laid.The platypus lays one to
1798, thought that it had been made up.The Scottish three eggs (typically two), which have parchment-like
anatomist Robert Knox (1791–1862) described it as a shells resembling reptile eggs. It takes a further 10 days for
‘freak imposture’ while the zoologist George Shaw the eggs to hatch and, during this time, the mother will
(1751–1813) went so far as checking the skin for stitches, curl herself round them to ensure that they remain at a
believing that it had been faked by a taxidermist.You can constant temperature – never too hot or too cold.
still see the scissor marks that he made on the pelt to this What’s so surprising about this process is that platypuses
day! Once these marvellous mammals have been seen in are mammals.The only other mammal group that lays eggs

Diving deep, the predatory platypus propels itself through the As it searches for titbits on the river bed, it shuts its eyes and
water using its front legs only. Hind legs and tail steer. ears, using its bill to detect prey.

(c) 2011 Marshall Cavendish. All Rights Reserved.