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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 ...
The other family is the Tachyglossidae, or echidnas. Within the Ornithorhynchidae are the main Cenozoic genera Ornithorhynchus and Obdurodon , and several potential stem -genera dating back to the Late Cretaceous , of which the oldest is possibly Dharragarra .
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 ...
Despite their awkward appearance, the platypus has a superpower-like sixth sense that it uses to hunt. With a beaver’s tail, webbed feet, and a duck’s bill, platypuses are one of the world’s ...
Family Macropodidae. Subfamily Sthenurinae. Genus Lagostrophus. Banded hare-wallaby (Lagostrophus fasciatus) Subfamily Macropodinae. Genus Dendrolagus: tree-kangaroos. Grizzled tree-kangaroo (Dendrolagus inustus) Lumholtz's tree-kangaroo (Dendrolagus lumholtzi) Bennett's tree-kangaroo (Dendrolagus bennettianus) Ursine tree-kangaroo (Dendrolagus ...
Opalios, the only described member of the extinct family Opalionidae, is considered the most basal ornithorhynchoid due to its unique combination of ancestral and derived traits. [ 1 ] The presence of the probable stem - ornithorhynchids Dharragarra and Patagorhynchus in the Late Cretaceous implies that the divergence between the platypus and ...
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.
At 33 °C (91.4 °F), echidnas also possess the second-lowest active body temperature of all mammals, behind the platypus. Despite their appearance, echidnas are capable swimmers, as they evolved from platypus-like ancestors. When swimming, they expose their snout and some of their spines, and are known to journey to water to bathe. [9]