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by Josie
Tolin
 Not
only does it boast a super strange name, the duckbill platypus
is also one of the most unique animals ever discovered.
Want to know more about this webbed foot wonder? Here’s
why this creature’s in a class by itself:
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The platypus only lives in Australia—no other country
plays host to this super swimmer.
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Ride ‘em, cowboy! Male platyi have poisonous spurs
on their back legs. This poison is strong enough to kill
a domestic house pet.
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Not surprisingly, the platypus is pretty odd-looking.
It has a bill and webbed feet like a duck, a beaver-type
tail, and a mole-like body. This weird combination makes
the platypus fit for typical platypus jobs such as swimming
and digging.
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Not-so-fine dining. Platypi eat worms, slugs, shrimp,
and larvae. They also occasionally enjoy another simple
delicacy—eggs.
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There’s no place like h-o-o-o-o-o-me. Platypi dig
their burrows near water. And dig, and dig, and dig….
These burrows can be up to 60 feet long!
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Unlike
all other mammals (except the echidna), the platypus lays
eggs. This makes it a kind of animal called a monotreme
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Baby, baby! Mother platypi normally lay two eggs at a
time. To keep her eggs warm, the mother platypus puts
the eggs on her stomach and nestles them with her tail.
They hatch in about two weeks.
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To
feed her babies, milk comes through glands in the mother
platypus’s skin. The little platypi then lick the
milk from her fur.
After
a mouthful of hair, drinking from a bottle might not
be bad!
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