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type Status Habitat

MAMMALS

STABLE

AUSTRALIA



Platypus make their home in and near freshwater creeks, slow-moving rivers, lakes joined by rivers, and built water storages such as farm dams.

Platypuses are big eaters, but their prey are small. They eat mostly insect larvae and crustaceans like crayfish. Sometimes, they eat worms, clams, aquatic snails, and tadpoles.





























Filling the bill

A platypus is the only mammal with a bill. The dark gray skin on the bill is hairless and moist. Grooves along the sides of a platypus's bill help it filter food from the water. A platypus grinds its food with tough pads in its bill; it has no teeth. A platypus spends 10 to 12 hours each day looking for food underwater.

Venomous males

Adult male platypuses have a venom gland in each thigh. The venom gland is connected to a small spur on its hind leg-think of a platypus's spur as a tiny horn, about as long as your fingernail. Only males platypuses produce venom, and only during breeding season. As they fight for a chance to mate with a female, both males try to drive their sharp spurs into each other. The venom doesn't kill a rival; it just slows him down for a while.

Night and day

Platypuses are active at night, when they are busy finding food in the water. During the daytime, a platypus hides in its burrow in an earthen stream bank. Inside a platypus burrow, tunnels lead to oval-shaped chambers.