Did you know that when platypuses were first discovered it is said that people looked for stitches because they believed multiple animals had been sewed together? Platypuses are small mammals that have a bever tail, duck bill, webbed feet, and are covered in brown fur. They have many unique features that can not be found in other mammals. Platypuses live in rivers throughout Australia and Tasmania. Their diet mainly consists of crayfish, incect larvae, small fish, and worms. Platypuses typically live anywhere from 7 to 14 years in the wild but can live up to 21 years in captivity. Male platypuses weigh about 2-7 pounds and female platypuses weigh about 2-4 pounds. Visit the gallery to see pictures of platypuses!
Platypuses live mainly in rivers throughout Australia and Tasmania. They live in burrows in the sides of rivers and streams pictured below. Some natural preditors to platypuses are snakes, goannas, water rats, and introduced animals like foxes, cats and dogs. Another cause of many platypus deaths is entanglement in fishing nets and other equipment.
Throughout their life cycle platypuses eat many different foods. For the first three to four months of their lives platypuses drink milk from their mothers. After this young platypuses are taught to hunt by their parents. At this age platypuses are now able to provide for themselves and eat a diet that mostly consists of yabbies (pictured below), incect larvae, small fish, and worms. When full grown male platypuses weigh about 2-7 pounds and female platypuses weigh about 2-4 pounds. Platypuses can be anywhere from 15 to 24 inches long and male platypuses are typically larger than females.
This chart shows the platypus population size relitive to other species to help people understand what their population size actually means. Due the fact that platypuses live in Australia a good refrence to help people understand their population size is other populations found in Australia. The platypus population is now near threatned and has a declining trend. Some threats to the platypus population are climate change, agriculture, pollution and urbanization. As of 2023 there is no action recovery plan but the platypus population is activly being monitored.
The only two platypuses in the United States are kept in San Diego Zoo in California. You can view these platypuses by looking at the platypus cam found on the San Diego Zoo websight or visiting them in person.
One very well known platpus seen in the media is Perry the platypus from Phineas and Ferb. He is one of the only well known platypusses and is very importatnt to society's understanding of the platypus. He was first seen by the public in 2007 revolutionising modern representation of the platypus in media.
This section was added in courtesy of Maggie!
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