The platypus is an egg-laying mammal that only lives in eastern Australia and Tasmania. Together with the specific species of echidna, it is one of the five surviving species of monotremes, the only mammals that lay eggs instead of giving birth, like other mammals.
The animal is the sole living representative of its family, Ornithorhynchidae and genus, Ornithorhynchus, though some related species have been found in the fossil record.
Platypus Nest (with Wax replica nestlings), collected in the 1920s from Namoi River
When European naturalists first encountered the platypus, they were divided over whether the female laid eggs. This debate was not confirmed until 1884 when an English naturalist-led an extensive search assisted by a team of 150 Aborigines managed to discover a few Platypus eggs.
A female platypus usually lays two eggs, about 25 millimeters long, that stick to the fur on her belly. The babies break their way out with an egg tooth and then attach themselves to the mother’s belly-hairs. The newly hatched are vulnerable, blind, and hairless and are fed by the mother’s milk. The young Platypus are suckled for four months. A platypus is born with teeth, but these drop out at a very early age, leaving the horny plates it uses to grind food.
The unusual appearance of this duck-billed, beaver-tailed, otter-footed mammal baffled naturalists. It is one of the few species of venomous mammals. The male platypus has a spur on the hindfoot that delivers a venom capable of causing severe pain to humans. The unique features of the platypus make it an essential subject in the study of evolutionary biology.
Platypus Nest
- Title: Platypus Nest
- Dates: 20th Century
- Provenience: Platypus Nest (with Wax replica nestlings) the 1920s from Namoi River
- Museum: National Museum of Australia
Explore Aboriginal Artifacts and Stories
- Australian Museums
- Coolamons and Aboriginal Carrying Vessels
- Aboriginal Shields
- Australian Aboriginal Shields
- Woureddy, an Aboriginal Chief of Van Diemen’s Land
- Trucaninny, wife of Woureddy
- Aboriginal Message Stick
- Platypus Nest
- Thylacine Skeleton (Tasmanian Tiger)
- Mummified Thylacine Head
- Aboriginal King Plate of Billie Hippie
- Australian Aboriginal Sayings and Quotes
- Bedgi-Bedgi
- Australian Native Police Uniform
- A Book of Drawings by Tommy McRae
- “View taken from the spot – Bateman’s Hill” by George Alexander Gilbert
A Tour of the Museums in Australia
- Museums in Sydney
- Art Gallery of New South Wales
- Australian Museum
- Australian National Maritime Museum
- Museum of Sydney
- Powerhouse Museum
- Hyde Park Barracks, Sydney
- Nicholson Museum
- Norman Lindsay Gallery and Museum
- Museum of Fire
- Museums in Melbourne
- National Gallery of Victoria
- Melbourne Museum
- Shrine of Remembrance
- Hellenic Museum, Melbourne
- State Library of Victoria
- National Sports Museum
- Old Treasury Building, Melbourne
- Old Melbourne Gaol
- Chinese Museum, Melbourne
- Jewish Museum of Australia
- Museums in Canberra
- National Museum of Australia
- National Gallery of Australia
- Australian War Memorial
- National Portrait Gallery
- Museums in Brisbane
- Queensland Art Gallery
- Queensland Museum & Science Centre
- MacArthur Museum Brisbane
- RD Milns Antiquities Museum
- Queensland Maritime Museum
- Commissariat Store, Brisbane
- Queensland Police Museum
- Museums in Perth
- Art Gallery of Western Australia
- WA Shipwrecks Museum
- Perth Mint
- WA Maritime Museum
- Fremantle Prison
- Museums in Adelaide
- Art Gallery of South Australia
- South Australian Museum
- Migration Museum, Adelaide
- Museums in Hobart
- Museum of Old and New Art (MONA)
- Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery
- Museums in Darwin
- Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory
- Darwin Military Museum
- Australian Aviation Heritage Centre
Australian Proverbs and Quotes
- Australian Proverbs and Quotes
- Australian Aboriginal Sayings and Quotes
~~~
“Take the platypus – that is not a finished product. It is clearly still in beta.”
– Stephen Colbert
~~~
Photo Credit: GM 2) By Klaus (Flickr: Wild Platypus 4) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Popular this Week
Sponsor your Favorite Page SEARCH Search for: Search Follow UsJoin – The JOM Membership Program
Sponsor a Masterpiece with YOUR NAME CHOICE for $5
Share this:
- Tweet
