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The platypus is a unique animal that is often regarded as strange. Even the first platypus pelt sent back to England from the Eastern coast of Australia in 1797 was thought of as a hoax and believed to be a fake, but this animal was real. The platypus, fake as it may look, is a mammal.

The platypus is a member of the Order Monotremata in which there are two other members. They are the long-beaked echidna and the short-beaked echidna. The name Monotreme means that both the echidnas and the platypus use the same opening for reproduction and waste. This opening is found also in reptiles. Another characteristic the platypus shares with reptiles is the ability to lay eggs.

The platypuses make their lodgings in burrows. There are two types of burrows though, nesting and dwelling. The dwelling burrows tend to be more makeshift and suited for the day-to-day lives of both female and male platypuses for sleeping, resting, and eating. The nesting burrows, however, are more complex. The most complex nesting burrows are the result of digging over a long period of time and have evolved from basic dwelling burrows. The entrances to both burrows are often underwater. Due to this there is a problem with the flow of air into them. This prevents the platypus from staying in a burrow for too long a period of time. This lack of oxygen takes more effect during breeding season for two reasons. The first is that the female will plug the entrance to the burrow every time she leaves or returns. The second is that the young platypus will often spend up to 3 months with a slowly depleting amount of oxygen.

A platypus looks like an animal with a small body, a duck’s bill, and a beaver’s tail. It is because of this that at first they were believed to be a hoax. Another reason for this is that the platypus contradicted everything that scientists in those days knew. But since then a lot more research has been done about the “hoax” creature. The platypus is about half the size of an average house cat and the male is larger than the female. Its body is covered in a thick covering of waterproof hair and ranges in color from gray to dark brown. Its body is also streamlined and built for swimming with webbed feet. The platypus’s bill is soft and rubbery and very sensitive. There is a large supply of nerves inside the bill used to search for food.

If a platypus is threatened it will simply try to avoid a predator. This may be staying underwater for up to 10 minutes or swimming away. During breeding season the male will become more aggressive towards a threat and use its backup defense, a poisonous spur located on its back legs. The venom issued from this spur has been known to be able to kill a dog, but the strange thing is that platypuses have been found with injuries sustained from other platypus’s spurs and have seemed to be fine.

The platypus feeds on a variety of things, including small vertebrates, small fish, fish eggs, tadpoles, and frogs. On a normal day a platypus will eat about 25% of its body weight. A platypus feeds all year round. During the summer a platypus will eat more then in the winter, storing the excess fat in its tail. This food supply is used to give a constant supply of nutrients to the platypus if it has trouble feeding in the winter and the spring when time is taken up by mating and breeding. The platypus searches for food by diving to the bottom of streams and rocking its head from side-to-side thought the mud. When it has caught food in its bill, it transfers it to a cheek pouch located behind the bill. Once the platypus surfaces it moves the food back to its mouth area where it is ground between two hard plates because platypuses have no teeth. Then the platypus expels unwanted parts of the food such as shells or mud.

Overall the platypus has many unique characteristics that only few other species share. This combination of features, which surpassed the knowledge of scientists in those days, is why the platypus was first believed to be a “hoax”. Scientists today are continuing their research on this fascinating animal to learn more about its distinctive behavior and its unique place in the Animal Kingdom.