World's Strangest Creature? Part Mammal, Part ReptileThe platypus sports fur like a mammal, paddles its duck feet like a bird and lays eggs in the manner of a reptile.
The primitive mammal lives in burrows in Eastern Australia dug along the banks of streams and rivers that it relies on for food. Its flat, streamlined body extends just 20 inches (50 centimeters), tipped with a tail that resembles a ping-pong paddle and four webbed feet. The platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) is one of only two mammals — the other is the echidna (spiny anteater) — that lays eggs. And unlike other mammals, the male platypus can deliver venom from a tiny spur on each hind limb.
The primitive mammal lives in burrows in Eastern Australia dug along the banks of streams and rivers that it relies on for food. Its flat, streamlined body extends just 20 inches (50 centimeters), tipped with a tail that resembles a ping-pong paddle and four webbed feet. The platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) is one of only two mammals — the other is the echidna (spiny anteater) — that lays eggs. And unlike other mammals, the male platypus can deliver venom from a tiny spur on each hind limb.
Another oddity: When paddling through the water, a platypus keeps its eyes, ears and nostrils closed, and its duck-bill serves as an antenna, sensing the faint electric fields surrounding prey. Even so, the platypus genome reveals the animal held onto genes for odor-detection.
The platypus, found only in Australia is one of the five mammal species of that lay eggs instead of giving birth to live young. The other egg-laying mammals are four species of echidna.
Credit: Gerry Pearce, australian-wildlife.com
