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The venom-delivering spur is found only on the male's hind limbs. The platypus is one of the few living mammals to produce venom.The venom is made in venom glands that are connected to hollow spurs on their hind legs; it is primarily made during the mating season. [1]
The Platypus’s Painfully Venomous Spurs. A platypus typically measures 14.5 to 25 inches long from bill to tail. ... Platypus venom is entirely different from other venomous creatures.
It is one of the few species of venomous mammals, as the male platypus has a spur on the hind foot that delivers an extremely painful venom. The unusual appearance of this egg-laying, duck-billed, beaver-tailed, otter-footed mammal at first baffled European naturalists. In 1799, the first scientists to examine a preserved platypus body judged ...
The calcaneus spur found on the male platypus' hind limb is used to deliver venom. Spurs are uncommon in mammals. The male platypus has well developed spurs on the heels of its hind feet. The spurs are hollow and connected to a venom gland, allowing the platypus to deliver a very painful kick both in mating competitions and as a defense. [22]
The calcareous spur found on the male platypus's hind limb is used to deliver venom. Both male and female platypuses (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) hatch with keratinised spurs on the hind limbs, although the females lose these during development. The spurs are connected to the venom-producing crural glands, forming the crural system. During the ...
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The echidna spurs are vestigial and have no known function, while the platypus spurs contain venom. [42] Molecular data show that the main component of platypus venom emerged before the divergence of platypus and echidnas, suggesting that the most recent common ancestor of these taxa was also possibly a venomous monotreme. [43]
It is one of the few venomous mammals, the male platypus having a spur on the hind foot that delivers a venom capable of causing severe pain to humans. Until the early 20th century, it was hunted for its fur, but it is now protected throughout its range.