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The Platypus Nature’s Quirkiest Creature
What is a Platypus?
Is it a bird? A reptile? A mammal? The platypus defies classification with its duck-like bill, beaver-like webbed feet tail, venomous spurs and egg-laying habits! This semi-aquatic Australian monotreme is so unusual that when European scientists first examined a preserved specimen in 1798, they thought it was a hoax—a practical joke stitched together by a taxidermist.
The platypus, about the size of a cat (35-50cm, 0.5-3kg), has waterproof brown fur, webbed feet, and a broad flat tail for fat storage for stability. Its most prominent feather is its huge flat rubbery black bill with thousands of sensitive electro-receptors that act like sonar, allowing the platypus to detect underwater obstacles and prey. As a monotreme, it has a single opening—the cloaca—for digestion, reproduction, and excretion. But it is also a mammal and feed its babies milk.
Did You Know?
The platypus glows under UV light! Its fur shines a ghostly blue-green in the dark. Scientists still don’t know why.
Photo: Platypus face and beak
How Did the Platypus Get Its Name?
The name "platypus" comes from Greek meaning "flat-footed." However, its scientific name, Ornithorhynchus anatinus, translates to "bird-nosed duck-like creature." Quite fitting description for an animal that looks like a mash-up of many species! The platypus is also called a duck-billed platypus. The official name for a baby platypus is a "baby platypus". However, most people call it a puggle—cause it sounds so cute.
Can You Guess the Plural of Platypus?
Watch VideoIs the Platypus Dangerous?
Photo: Venomous spur on male platypus's hind leg
Yes! The male platypus has sharp venomous spurs on its hind legs, It attacks by clamping its hind legs around its victim and repeatedly jabbing its venom-injecting spurs. However, the platypus isn't aggressive—it only uses its venom in defence or to fight off rival males during mating season.
While not fatal to humans, the venom causes excruciating pain and swelling. Even strong painkillers may fail to alleviate the discomfort and no antivenom is available. Smaller animals, such as dogs, can die from platypus attacks.
Is the Platypus Venomous or Poisonous?
Contrary to popular belief, the platypus is not poisonous. A venomous animal injects or otherwise delivers its toxin into another animal. By contrast, a poisonous animal's entire body or parts of it may contain a harmful toxic substance if touched or eaten. Because the platypus injects its toxins, it is venomous–not poisonous.
Where do Platypus Live?
Photo: Platypus habitat map
Platypus live in freshwater creeks, streams, billabongs, and ponds with gravelly or pebbled stream-beds in eastern Australia and Tasmania. They prefer heavily wooded areas with steep and stable riverbanks into which they can dig their burrows.
A platypus establishes a home range and forages in that range. Its home range may overlap with other platypuses, but they do not have territorial disputes. Instead, they try to avoid each other, even changing their foraging schedule to do so.
Platypus's Burrows
Photo: Platypus home burrow on a riverbank
Platypuses build two types of burrows. Females dig deep nesting burrows, with entrances up to 4 meters from the nesting chamber. Both males and females build shorter, 1-2 meter camping burrows for temporary shelter, often scattered throughout their home range.
What Do Platypuses Eat?
Photo: Platypus foraging for food underwater
Platypuses eat aquatic invertebrates such as water beetles, snails, shrimp, mussels, worms, mayflies, black flies, and crayfish.
The platypus hunts by sweeping its head from side to side as it swims underwater and picks up the tell-tale electrical signals given off by its prey. Then, quickly homing in on these signals, the platypus shovels them out of the stream-bed with its bill and pounces on them. It stores its catch temporarily in cheek pouches located just behind its jaw. Then, it continues to search for more prey. Resurfacing every 30-60 seconds for air, the platypus retrieves the morsels stored in its cheek pouches, grinds its food between two bony plates on their upper and lower jaws, and swallows the mashed-up food. The platypus spends 10-12 hours a day foraging for food and consumes 15-30% of its body mass in food each day. Unlike other mammals, the platypus has no stomach! Instead, its digestive system processes food directly from the oesophagus to the intestines.
Platypus Reproduction Platypus Mating, Eggs, Hatching, Baby
Photo: Platypus egg in mother's pouch
During the mating season between June and October, a male platypus has only one aim: to win territory and secure any females within it. To do this, the male produces venom in its rear spurs and battles other males for the female's affection. These fights are rarely fatal; the toxins usually paralyse the loser until it retreats. The victor wins whatever females reside in his newly won territory. Females do not appear to be picky about the male they couple up with. They mate with any male in their territory, assuming he is probably the biggest and strongest in the area. The courting ritual lasts for several weeks, during which time the female plays coy and refuses his advances until she is receptive. She will indicate her readiness to mate by nipping the male on his tail. He will nip hers in return, and they will swim in a circle and indulge in other aquatic courting rituals for a few days more before mating. Copulation occurs when the male partially mounts the female, inserts his four-pronged penis in her cloaca and ejaculates into her. This process takes around 10 minutes. Once copulation is complete, the male departs to find another female, and the female starts preparing her nesting burrow.
Photo: Platypus baby puggle in mother's pouch
The female lays one to three leathery white eggs, the size of small marbles (11 mm), about 2-3 weeks after mating. She positions these eggs in a slight depression on her belly and curls up its tail to cradle them. Kept warm by her, the eggs incubate for about ten days. About 9 mm in length, the young platypus hatchling breaks out of its egg by tearing the shell open with a small egg tooth on the tip of its snout and clawing its way out with its front feet.
Once the hatchlings are born, the mother's body secretes milk from two special paths on its skin (as the platypus does not have nipples like other mammals). Because its milk is deposited on the surface of the skin and doesn't offer the relative sterility of a nipple, its milk contains special antimicrobial chemicals which protect young from infection.
Photo: Platypus babies - puggles
Baby platypuses (sometimes called puggles) remain in the burrow for about 3-4 months feeding on milk and then on solids brought to them by their mother. When they finally emerge, they are about 80% of the length of an adult platypus and are fully furred. At this time, they need to fend for themselves, learning to swim and feed on their own. Platypuses reach sexual maturity at two years of age. The platypus has a lifespan of up to 17 years.
Platypus Walk (with Video) How Does a Platypus Walk?
Video: Platypus walking
On land, the platypus walks in a style similar to reptiles such as crocodiles or lizards. Its legs move from the side of its body rather than from under it. Furthermore, the platypus walks on its knuckles to prevent its webbed feet from getting entangled in vegetation. (Gorillas and chimpanzees also use knuckle-walking). Because a platypus is built for efficiency in water, it is not well adapted for walking on land. As a result, they rarely walk on dry land.
Platypus Swimming (with Video)How Does a Platypus Swim?
Video: Platypus swimming
The platypus is an expert swimmer and diver. It swims and propels itself underwater using its large webbed paddle-like front feet and steers with its tail and rear feet. It closes its eyes, nostrils, and ears when swimming underwater and uses its super-sensitive bill to guide it through the water. A Platypus usually remains submerged for about 4 minutes but can remain submerged for as long as 14 minutes. It can swim and dive at the rate of 12 meters per minute. While foraging for food, it travels at a speed of about half a meter per second. The platypus has a very low above-water profile making it hard to spot.
Platypus Predators & Threats
Platypuses fall prey to dingoes, feral cats, foxes, large birds of prey and crocodiles. Domestic dogs, too, occasionally attack platypuses. Water-rats and goannas threaten the young platypuses in nesting burrows. Humans and climate change, however, pose the most significant risk to the survival of the platypus.
Is the Platypus Endangered? Platypus Conservation Status
The platypus is listed as 'Near Threatened' by the IUCN. Without proper conservation, it risks becoming endangered. Efforts to protect this iconic species include habitat restoration, research, and raising public awareness.
25 Platypus Facts
- The platypus is a mammal that lays eggs!
- This is very unusual because mammals don't usually lay eggs.
- It is called a monotreme because it has only one rear opening. (Other mammals have two openings).
- The platypus lives in the waterways of eastern Australia. It is only found in Australia.
- Platypuses are biofluorescent, their fur glows bluish-green under ultraviolet (UV) light.
- It has no nipples and oozes milk from pores in its skin instead.
- Baby platypuses are called puggles.
- The platypus is an example of what early mammals may have been like.
- The platypus is venomous. The male platypus's spurs can inject venom into its victim.
- The platypus is about the size of a cat.
- The platypus uses its webbed front feet to paddle through water, steers and brakes with its back feet and uses its tail as a stabiliser.
- It is also called the Duck-billed platypus because it has a beak like a duck.
- This beak is flat, rubbery and looks like it's made of plastic.
- Its beak works like a metal detector or radar to locate its prey under the gravel of a river bed.
- The platypus feeds on small bottom-dwelling creatures. Occasionally, it also eats fish, frogs and insects.
- The platypus stores its catch in cheek pouches.
- The platypus has no teeth.
- It grinds its food between two bony plates on its upper and lower jaws.
- It does not have a separate stomach.
- It has a relatively low body temperature of 32°C, which is low for a mammal.
- Males have venomous spurs on their hind legs.
- It is mainly active from dusk to dawn.
- During the day, it shelters in its burrow.
- The opening of the burrow has a tight fit and squeezes water from its fur.
- You cannot keep a platypus as a pet. It is illegal.
The Platypus: A Living Relic of Evolution
The platypus is one of nature’s strangest and most remarkable creatures, offering a glimpse into the evolutionary past. Whether it’s their bizarre mix of features, egg-laying reproduction, or venomous defence mechanisms, the platypus continues to fascinate scientists and animal lovers alike. Protecting this unique species ensures future generations can marvel at its weird and wonderful existence.
All Rights Reserved. (Last Updated: Mar 09, 2025)