Random Animals

Today's random animal is

Platypus

Scientific Name: Ornithorhynchus anatinus

appearance

The platypus is an animal about one meter long. Its body is covered with hair, its legs have members for swimming, it has a beak like a duck and a tail like a beaver.

Platypus

Habitat

This animal is native to Australia, located in eastern Queensland, New East and South Wales, central and southwest of Victoria, Tasmania, and King Island. It was introduced in the extreme west of Kangaroo Island, between 1926 and 1949, where it still maintains a stable population. The species is extinct in South Australia, where it was found in the Adelaide Hills and the Lofty Mountain Range.

The species is dependent on rivers, streams, ponds and lakes, and can also be found in dams and dams for irrigation. Geographic distribution shows considerable flexibility in both habitat choice and adaptability to a temperature variation. The species is able to cope with both the high temperatures of the Queensland rainforests and snow-capped mountainous areas in New South Wales. The current distribution of the platypus has changed very little since the colonization of Australia, and continues to occupy much of its distribution.

feeding

The platypus feeds mainly on insects and invertebrates, such as mollusks, crustaceans, worms, insects, small fish or tadpoles. Occasionally he also eats some plants.

After capturing your food under water (usually in streams), the platypus stores it inside pockets, as do for example hamsters. As soon as he returns to dry land, he chews and swallows food. Since it has no teeth, the platypus uses the horny plaques of the jaws to chew.

reproduction

The reproduction of the platypus is not yet fully known. It is known that they reach sexual maturity by the age of seven and that during breeding season, usually between July and August, their reproductive organs increase in size (both males and females).

This mating occurs within water. The mating ritual of the platypus is little known.

Despite its aquatic habits, the platypus builds its nest on land, on the banks of lakes and small rivers where it inhabits. The female digs a deep burrow, about two meters long and with an entrance with access to water, where her eggs hatch.

Inside the eggs, the baby platypus has a kind of tooth on the tip of its beak - called an egg tooth - that helps them break the shell to hatch. This tooth is lost soon after. The puppies are born blind and without fur.

cubs of platypus

As soon as they come out of the egg, the platypus mother pulls them with her flattened tail towards her to feed them. Since they do not have teats, the puppies have to suck the milk through the dilated pores located between the hairs, pressing on the skin so that the milk leaves and flows through the coat.

The cubs stay months in the nest and are weaned when they reach approximately 30 centimeters in length.

curiosities

Together with the echidnas, they are the only mammals that lay eggs;

The platypus's beak is flexible and rubbery;

The platypus has no stomach, instead its esophagus attaches directly to the intestine;

A platypus is able to consume the equivalent of its weight in food within 24 hours, although it only needs about 20% of that weight to survive;

It is able to store fat in its tail in order to survive in periods when food is scarce;

He is much more adept at swimming than walking on dry land, swinging from side to side a little like crocodiles;

Until the 1900s, the platypus was hunted because of its skin, waterproof and denser than that of a polar bear;

It is extremely active in the early hours of the morning and evening. The rest of the time (about 17 hours a day) is spent resting in their burrows;

The platypus is considered an Australian symbol.

Made By: Yuri and Gabriel M. - 2º Redes