Amazing & Intresting World's Strangest Creature? Part Mammal, Part Reptile
Advertisment
| World's Strangest Creature? Part Mammal, Part Reptile |
 |
 |
 |
| Tuesday, 20 May 2008 02:49 |
|
 The platypus sports fur like a mammal, paddles its duck feet like a bird and lays eggs in the manner of a reptile.
The primitive mammal lives in burrows in Eastern Australia dug along the banks of streams and rivers that it relies on for food. Its flat, streamlined body extends just 20 inches (50 centimeters), tipped with a tail that resembles a ping-pong paddle and four webbed feet. The platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) is one of only two mammals — the other is the echidna (spiny anteater) — that lays eggs. And unlike other mammals, the male platypus can deliver venom from a tiny spur on each hind limb.  The primitive mammal lives in burrows in Eastern Australia dug along the banks of streams and rivers that it relies on for food. Its flat, streamlined body extends just 20 inches (50 centimeters), tipped with a tail that resembles a ping-pong paddle and four webbed feet. The platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) is one of only two mammals — the other is the echidna (spiny anteater) — that lays eggs. And unlike other mammals, the male platypus can deliver venom from a tiny spur on each hind limb.
Another oddity: When paddling through the water, a platypus keeps its eyes, ears and nostrils closed, and its duck-bill serves as an antenna, sensing the faint electric fields surrounding prey. Even so, the platypus genome reveals the animal held onto genes for odor-detection. The platypus, found only in Australia is one of the five mammal species of that lay eggs instead of giving birth to live young. The other egg-laying mammals are four species of echidna. Credit: Gerry Pearce, australian-wildlife.com  CREATELINKTOWARDSTHISARTICLE PREVIEWQUOTE
World's Strangest Creature? Part Mammal, Part Reptile  The platypus sports fur like a mammal, paddles its duck feet like a bird and lays eggs in the manner of a... © 2012 - Amazing & Interesting World |
More Articles...
London's Tower Bridge out of 1 Michael Williams spent 10 painstaking years designing and building a famous London landmark...out of ... READMORE |
Man claims world record by sma A man has broken a world record by smashing 47 watermelons with his head in 60 seconds.John Allwood, 29, a melon picker, from Queensland, Australia, broke his own world record which he...... READMORE |
Top of Tyrol Nnsbruck-based architects Astearchitecture have completed a mountain-top viewing platform above a glacier in Tyrol, Austria.You’re looking at the Aurland....... READMORE |
Moving Skyscraper An talian architect said he is poised to start construction on a new skyscraper in Dubai that will be "the world's first building in motion....... READMORE |
Amazing Clouds - Not Photoshop Clouds fill the skies above us and are part of our every day lives, often going unnoticed. However, there are some clouds that are so rare that you will be very lucky to see them in your lifetime...... READMORE |
Inside a Professional Camera A camera sliced in half. you can think of just one other possibility that makes everything possible, art. The weirder the exhibit, the more successful it is. If you happen to know why someone would....... READMORE |
- + 6 |
|
Like us on Facebook
Tell a friend
 |  |