5. Diet
A duck billed platypus
is a carnivore.
The duck billed
platypus feeds almost
exclusively on the
small animals that live
on the river bed or lake
bed.
Its diet consists mainly
of shrimp, crayfish,
crustaceans, insect
larvae and worms.
6. Physical Description
A platypus, at first glance,
resembles an otter with a
duck's bill on its face and a
beaver's tail in back. An adult
platypus, about the size of a
house cat, weighs from 3 to 5
pounds, its adult head and
body length runs 12 to 18
inches, and the tail adds
another 4 to 6 inches. Males
are larger than females.
The snout, despite its duckbill
shape, is soft, moist, and
rubbery in texture, not hard
like a bird's beak.
7. Breeding Info
Following an elaborate courtship
ritual that includes the male holding
on to the female's tail, and the pair
swimming in slow circles, the two
copulate in the water. The female
lays one to three eggs in the
chamber, two to four weeks after
mating. A typical egg is slightly oval,
about half an inch in diameter, with a
soft, leathery shell like a reptile's.
The mother incubates the eggs by
holding them against her belly fur
with her tail, maintaining a constant
temperature of 90°F. The young
hatch in about ten days, each
tearing through the eggshell with a
temporary egg tooth.
8. Special Behavior and Unique
Anatomy
The platypus is a very shy and elusive
creature, hiding during the day, and
doing most of its searching for food in
the evening and at night. A platypus may
make up to 100 dives a day searching
for food, staying underwater for one to
two minutes at a time.
Platypuses shelter in burrows they dig in
riverbanks, using their sharp claws
which have retractable webbing.
Males platypuses can defend
themselves with a sharp spur on their
hind ankle which delivers strong venom.
9. Weird Info
It doesn't bear live young.. A mother
platypus typically lays two eggs. The
eggs cling to the mother's fur on her
belly. Though the mother produces milk,
she doesn't suckle her babies. Instead,
the milk oozes out of the glands onto
the mother's fur. The babies then lick it
off.
It has poison spurs. The male platypus
has poison spurs on its hind feet. The
venom can make a person ill and is
strong enough to kill a dog.
A platypus lifespan is about 10-15
years, though their life expectancy in
the wild is closer to six years.
