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How the Platypus Uses Its Sixth Sense to Hunt Food. Platypuses eat small fish, worms, crayfish, and insect larvae that they find on the bottom of rivers and streams hidden within the rocks and ...
The platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus), sometimes referred to as the duck-billed platypus, is a semiaquatic, egg-laying mammal endemic to eastern Australia, including Tasmania. The platypus is the sole living representative or monotypic taxon of its family Ornithorhynchidae and genus Ornithorhynchus , though a number of related species appear ...
Among the monotremes, the platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) has the most acute electric sense. [37] [38] The platypus localises its prey using almost 40,000 electroreceptors arranged in front-to-back stripes along the bill. [34] The arrangement is highly directional, being most sensitive off to the sides and below.
Male platypuses have sharp spurs on their back legs shaped like a canine tooth. These hollow spurs measure 0.59 to 0.71 inches long and connect to crural glands in the animal’s upper thighs.
The platypus feeds on annelid worms, insect larvae, freshwater shrimps, and yabbies (freshwater crayfish) that it digs out of the riverbed with its snout or catches while swimming. It uses its cheek pouches to carry prey to the surface for eating.
The San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance released video footage showing a platypus popping out from some rocks to explore its surroundings. Another moment shows a platypus enjoying the water in its new ...
Female platypuses, in common with echidnas, have rudimentary spur buds that do not develop (dropping off before the end of their first year) and lack functional crural glands. [3] The spur is attached to a small bone that allows articulation; the spur can move at a right angle to the limb allowing a greater range of attack than a fixed spur ...
The platypus has an average body temperature of about 31 °C (88 °F) rather than the averages of 35 °C (95 °F) for marsupials and 37 °C (99 °F) for placentals. [ 30 ] [ 31 ] Research suggests this has been a gradual adaptation to the harsh, marginal environmental niches in which the few extant monotreme species have managed to survive ...