  CLASSIFICATION
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Monotremata
Family: Omithorhynchus
Genus species: Ornithorhynchus anatinus
GENERAL INFO
The duckbill platypus is about the size of a house cat. Their
lifespan is around 10-17 years.
Webbed feet, beaver like paddle tail, duck like bill.
Hunt underwater, swim by paddling webbed feet and steering
with their tail.
Has no teeth, so bits of gravel helps the platypus grind up
food.
Has thick waterproof fur.
Electro-receptor system detects the electric currents of small moving
prey
Gather food in mouth under water, return to surface pushes food into
cheek pouch, where food is grinded
The babies do not leave the burrow until they are about 17 weeks old.
Only young platypuses have rudimentary teeth which are replaced with
bony plates.
SPECIAL FEATURES
Duck like bill help grind up food
The heart rate of a platypus can drop from 140 - 230 beats a minute to
almost 0 beats per minute
One of 2 egg laying mammals
HABITAT
Found in Austraila,
platypus spend much of their time in freshwater ponds and
streams. They live in burrows.
DIET
The platypus is a carnivore, it scoops up insects and larvae, shellfish, worms,
and shrimp in their bill
along with gravel from the bottum of the lake
REPRODUCTION
Lay one or two eggs at a time, they hatch in ten days
Separate sexes
Produce milk for young
BODY SYSTEMS
Thin
walled, small stomach
Digestive tract relatively short
Nothing is known about platypusdigestion because food is finely ground
HUMAN IMPACT
Shot and
trapped severly in the early 1900s for their fur until legislation
protected them
Pollution of waterways, erosion of stream banks, the building of dams,
and stream improvement works also put the platypus in danger
Otherwise the platypus is safe
WEBLINKS
http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/platypus.html
SOURCES
http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/platypus.html
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/mammals/platypus/Duckbillprintout.shtml
http://www.platypus.org.uk/facts-descrip.htm
http://www.genevaschools.org/austinbg/class/gray/platypus/
http://library.thinkquest.org/11420/mfood.htm
http://rainforest-australia.com/Platypus_Life&Death.htm
http://images2.fanpop.com/images/photos/4200000/perry-the-platypus-perry-the-platypus-4267460-481-462.jpg
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