6/1/2023 0 Comments Where are platypus foundThe earliest known ancestors of modern platypuses lived during the early Cretaceous Period around 100 to 146 million years ago. Image courtesy of Hobvias Sudoneighm via Flickr Genetics Fossil Record įigure 1: Photo of a platypus diving to the bottom of a river. However, their eyes are sensitive to movement when open. They utilize an electro-sensory system in their bill to locate their prey (mostly invertebrates). Platypuses are aquatic feeders that close their eyes, nostrils, and ears while they forage underwater. They are crepuscular/nocturnal and burrow to avoid high temperatures. They have small eyes with round pupils and flattened corneas, features of aquatic vertebrates. Most platypuses live for six to fifteen years, but they can live into their twenties. Their young emerge anytime from late January to early March. Courtship (in which a couple dances on water) begins in August, and mothers start making elaborate nesting burrows for their eggs. They are seasonal breeders and start earlier in the year farther north. These differences suggest that males compete with each other for access to females, resources, and territory. Platypuses are sexually dimorphic with the males approximately 15% longer and 40% heavier than the females. Despite their range of environments, however, the IUCN deemed them “Near Threatened” in 2016. They live in the permanent river systems of eastern Australia, Tasmania, King’s Island, and Kangaroo Island, distributed across various environments ranging from tropical to alpine. Platypuses are the only remaining member of the family Ornithorhynchidaeare, and there are only four other species of egg-laying mammals. Aboriginal people in different regions have different names for the animal, including mallingong, boondaburra, and tambreet. Platypuses ( Ornithorhynchus anatinus) are monotremes, a type of egg-laying mammal with mammary glands and a flat beak.
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