- Fact 2 - They are the only mammals
that lay eggs instead of giving birth to live young
- Fact 3 - Monotremes (from the Greek
monos 'single' + trema 'hole', referring to the cloaca) are
mammals that lay eggs, rather than giving birth to their young.
A Gestation Period of 28 days and number of Eggs laid 1-3
- Fact 4 - The Platypus is an
excellent swimmer
- Fact 5 - The Platypus hunts as well
as mates underwater although it lives on land
- Fact 6 - When walking IT turns back
the webs on its front feet revealing broad nails
- Fact 7 - The platypus has a flat
furry tail that stores fats for the winter season
- Fact 8 - Platypus stats and
facts
- Weight: 700 g to 2.4 kg (1.54 to
5.3 lb)
- Length: 50 cm (20 in)
- Tail length: 13 cm (5 in)
- Habitat:
They live on the edges of rivers and freshwater lakes
- Lifespan: 12 years
- Diet: the Platypus eat small
freshwater animals and fish including shrimp, crayfish,
earthworms, Mayflies, dragonflies, mussels etc.
- Fact 9 - The platypus needs to
consume at least one quarter of its body weight daily
- Fact 10 - The male Platypus has a
spur on the hind foot that delivers a venom capable of causing
severe pain to human beings
- Fact 11 - The Platypus was once
hunted for its fur, but it is now protected
- Fact 12 - When a description was
published in the Naturalist's Miscellany in 1799 it was thought
that somebody had sewn a duck's beak onto the body of a
beaver-like animal!
- Fact 13 - There is only one species
of Platypus although some refer to it as Duck-billed
- Fact 14 - It adopts knuckle-walking
to protect the webbing between its toes
- Fact 15 - The embossed image of a
Platypus has appeared on the reverse side of the Ausralian 20
cent coin
- Fact 16 - The Platypus has a gait,
which is similar to that of Reptiles,
with legs that are on the sides of the body, rather than
underneath
- Fact 17 - The female does not have
nipples - its young ones suck milk from patches on the abdomen
- Fact 18 - The names given to babies are
sometimes Puggles
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