These spurs are connected to a venom gland in each thigh. The male platypus has a sharp spur on each ankle. If the water is cold, platypus can increase their body's heat-production to keep their temperature at around 32 degrees.Īwkward on the ground, the platypus waddles with the webs of its front feet turned back so it can use its claws for digging. Fat is stored in the tail for when food is scarce or when the female returns to her burrow to breed. The tail acts as a stabiliser when the platypus swims, and is also used for burrowing. It has a broad, flat tail with short, stout legs and webbed front feet well suited to its life in the water. The platypus's body is covered in thick, dark brown fur and is flat and streamlined. Very sensitive, the bill is like soft, wet rubber and is used to find food. The first thing most people notice about the platypus is its bill. The platypus is smaller than most people think, males are about 50cm long and weigh about 1.5kg and females are smaller, usually about 40cm long and weighing 1kg. Monotremes are different from other mammals because they have no teats and lay eggs like birds even though they raise their young like mammals. The other two species are Australia's short-beaked echidna and Papua New Guinea's long-beaked echidna. The platypus is one of only three monotremes. So why the considerable ability to sense odors? The scientists speculate that it may involve sexual communication or the use of water-soluble odorants in navigating and hunting underwater.Scientific name: Ornithorhynchus anatinusĬonservation status: This species is listed as Special Least Concern in Queensland (Nature Conservation (Wildlife) Regulation 2006).Ī duck-like bill and shy nature has made the platypus one of Australia's most intriguing animals. As a primarily aquatic animal, the platypus was already known to rely on electrosensory receptors in its bill to detect faint electric fields emitted by underwater prey. One surprise was finding genes responsible for sensitive odor receptors. The platypus lacks nipples the young nurse through the abdominal skin. Of particular interest, the researchers reported, the analysis identified families of genes that link the platypus to reptiles (like those for egg-laying, vision and venom production), as well as to mammals (antibacterial proteins and lactation). Some repeated elements in the genome, the scientists noted, hold hints as to the chronology of changes in the platypus. The platypus shares 82 percent of its genes with the human, mouse, dog, opossum and chicken. In their investigation of the platypus genetic blueprint, the scientists found that its genome contains about 18,500 genes, similar to other vertebrates and about two-thirds the size of the human genome. “What is unique about the platypus is that it has retained a large overlap between two very different classifications, while later mammals lost the features of reptiles,” Dr. Greg Wood/Agence France-Presse - Getty Images The single subject of the study was a female platypus named Glennie, a resident of Glenrock Station in New South Wales, Australia, whose DNA was collected and analyzed.Ī platypus baby, or puggle, being held before being transferred back to its burrow at Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia. Warren, a geneticist at Washington University School of Medicine in St. ![]() The research is described in Thursday’s issue of the journal Nature by a group of almost 100 scientists led by Wesley C. If it has a bill and webbed feet like a duck, lays eggs like a bird or a reptile but also produces milk and has a coat of fur like a mammal, what could the genetics of the duck-billed platypus possibly be like? Well, just as peculiar: an amalgam of genes reflecting significant branching and transitions in evolution.Īn international scientific team, which announced the first decoding of the platypus genome on Wednesday, said the findings provided “many clues to the function and evolution of all mammalian genomes,” including that of humans, and should “inspire rapid advances in other investigations of mammalian biology and evolution.”
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