The Platypus

The Platypus

The shy Platypus is also an Australian animal found only in eastern Australia, where they live on the edges of rivers and freshwater lakes where burrows can be dug. The best streams are ones where the banks are strong enough for building their deep burrows, and often these banks overhang the river. During the day, a Platypus often rests in this burrow, but it may spend some hours near the entrance to the burrow, basking in the sun and grooming its dense fur. But Platypuses are most active for several hours after dusk and before dawn. Platypuses are renowned for their excellence in the water as both a diver and a swimmer.

Swimming

Whilst underwater the Platypus has its eyes
and ears shut and, being buoyant, it must  

continuously swim downwards with its 

webbed forefeet to remain submerged. Webbing on the front feet extends well beyond the claws, forming large paddles for swimming. The hind-feet of the Platypus are also webbed but are employed in steering or braking-not in propulsion., platypuses can swim underwater for 2 minutes, but may rest underneath a submerged object for up to 10 minutes. Dense fur fibers trap a layer of air next to the skin, giving excellent insulation for an animal that spends up to 12 hours each day in water as cold as 0 degrees Celsius. 

Appearance

The Platypus has a bill that resembles a duck's bill but is actually an elongated snout covered with soft, moist, leathery skin and sensitive nerve endings. The body of the platypus is 30 to 45 cm long; the flattened tail measures 10 to 15 cm in length. The feet are webbed. The body and tail are covered with a thick, soft, woolly layer of fur, from which long, flat hairs protrude. The platypus has three layers of fur; an inside layer to trap air and keep the animal warm, a middle layer which works like a wet suit, an outer layer to feel if it is close to objects. A Platypus grows to a maximum weight of 1 to 2.4 kg. The Platypus is known to live for at least 12 years in the wild.

Feeding

The Platypus usually feeds at night on aquatic insect larvae, shrimps and worms by dabbling in mud or silt on the bottom of rivers and freshwater lakes with its sensitive, flexible, duck-like snout, aided by electro-receptors (electronic sense) on its bill. These are stored in the cheek pouches and will be chewed after returning to the surface. The Platypus can eat their own body weight in food in one night. ..................................

Reproduction

Platypus males are larger than females. Mating occurs once a year, beginning in late June in the warmer northern parts and in October in the southern part. The female usually lays two eggs ( the soft leathery egg resembles a reptiles egg) but may lay up to four and incubates these against her abdomen (by clasping them with its tail)for about two weeks in a blocked-off nest at the end of a long breeding burrow. The young "puggle" have no fur when they hatch. 

The female has no teats. Milk is produced in large glands under her skin which oozes out onto a patch of fur and the young Platypus (puggle) sucks it up.