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</p><p></p><p>The male<a href=http://www. livescience. com/27572-platypus. html>platypus</a>has a venomous spur on its hind foot capable of dispensing a poison

Surprising skin Bell had found a fleshy dome extending off of the duckbill's skull something that had never been seen before.

or if other duckbills might have had similar fleshy accessories. Skin associated with the head may not preserve well meaning that other combs have vanished without a trace Bell said.

which raise offspring in pouches or monotremes such as platypuses which develop fetuses in eggs. See Images of the Furry Mammal Ancestor

#Platypus Facts The platypus is one of the most unusual creatures in the animal kingdom. Platypuses (which is the correct plural form not platypi) have shaped a paddle tail like a beaver;

In fact the first time a platypus was brought from Australia to Britain people couldn't believe that it was a real animal.

Platypuses are among the few venomous mammals. Males have a spur on the back of their hind feet that is connected to a venom-secreting gland.

and venom help males compete for mates according to the Australian Platypus Conservatory. The venom is not life threatening to humans

A typical platypus is 15 inches (38 centimeters from its head to the end of its rump.

1. 4 kg) though platypuses that live in colder climates are bigger than those living in warmer areas according to the Australian Platypus Conservatory.

Scientists have found fossils that suggest that ancient platypuses where twice as large as the modern variety at 3. 3 feet (1 meter) long.

Platypuses have dense thick fur that helps them stay warm underwater. Most of the fur is dark brown except for a patch of lighter fur near each eye and lighter-colored fur on the underside.

When platypuses are on land their webbing retracts making the claws more pronounced. The animals walk awkwardly on their knuckles to protect the webbing.

The skin of the bill holds thousands of receptors that help the platypus navigate underwater

Platypuses live in only one small area of the world. These creatures make their homes in the freshwater areas that flow throughout the island of Tasmania and the eastern and southeastern coast of Australia.

Platypuses also live under rock ledges roots or debris. Though they exist on only one side of one continent platypuses weather many climate extremes.

They have been found in plateaus lowlands tropical rainforests and the cold mountains of Tasmania and the Australian Alps.

Their waterproof thick fur keeps platypuses warm in chilly temperatures and their big tails store extra fat for energy.

Platypuses usually spend their time hunting for food and a hunt can last 10 to 12 hours.

Platypuses are carnivorous which means they eat meat but not plants. They hunt for their food in the water where they live.

When platypuses find something interesting like shellfish insects larvae or worms they scoop it up in their bills store it in their cheek pouches and swim to the surface.

and no teeth platypuses use any gravel or dirt they scooped up while on the bottom of the waterbed to mash their food into digestible pieces.

When the female platypus is ready to have her young she will burrow down inside the ground on the riverbank and seal herself into one of her tunnel rooms.

Then she will lay one or two eggs and place them between her rump and her tail to keep them warm.

After about 10 days the eggs hatch and the little bean-sized babies will nurse for three to four months.

Around the time of weaning baby platypuses can swim on their own. The taxonomy of the platypus according to the Integrated Taxonomic Information system (ITIS) is:

Platypuses are endangered not. The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists the animals as a Least Concern though the organization admits it has no idea how large

or small the platypus population may be. This is due primarily to lack of worldwide research and data on the species. Platypuses swim with their front feet and steer with their tails and back feet.

They have waterproof fur skin that covers their ears and eyes and noses that seal shut to protect the animals

while they are underwater. Though platypuses are made for the water they can't stay completely submerged.

They can only stay underwater for 30 to 140 seconds. Platypus'skeletons resemble those of reptiles.

They both have splayed pectoral girdles and legs. These short creatures are much better at moving through water than across land.

"Phylogenetically, it s really the equivalent of the duck-billed platypus and monotremes, says Claude depamphilis, a plant evolutionary biologist at Pennsylvania State university in University Park, who co-led researchers on the Amborella Genome Project.

Just as the platypus genome yielded insights into the emergence of mammals, Amborella s gives a glimpse at changes that helped flowering plants,

On its heels it had a long perhaps poisonous spur like male platypuses do now. Megaconus confirms that many modern mammalian biological functions related to skin

I'm just saying we need to see more animals with variety much like the platypus.

In the same way that the genome sequence of the platypus--a survivor of an ancient lineage--can help us study the evolution of all mammals the genome sequence of Amborella can help us learn about the evolution of all flowers said Victor Albert of the University

#Fossil of largest known platypus discovered in Australiano living mammal is more peculiar than the platypus.

The platypus lays eggs rather than gives birth to live young its snout is covered with electroreceptors that detect underwater prey

and male platypuses have a venomous spur on their hind foot. Until recently the fossil record indicated that the platypus lineage was unique with only one species inhabiting Earth at any one time.

This picture has changed with the publication of a new study in the latest issue of the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology that describes a new giant species of extinct platypus that was a side-branch of the platypus family tree.

The new platypus species named Obdurodon tharalkooschild is based on a single tooth from the famous Riversleigh World Heritage Area of northwest Queensland.

While many of Riversleigh's fossil deposits are now being dated radiometrically the precise age of the particular deposit that produced this giant platypus is in doubt

but is likely to be between 15 and 5 million years old. Monotremes (platypuses and echidnas) are the last remnant of an ancient radiation of mammals unique to the southern continents.

A new platypus species even one that is highly incomplete is a very important aid in developing understanding about these fascinating mammals said Phd candidate Rebecca Pian lead author of the study.

Based on the size of tooth it is estimated that this extinct species would have been nearly a meter (more than three feet) long twice the size of the modern platypus.

The bumps and ridges on the teeth also provide clues about what this species likely ate.

Like other platypuses it was probably a mostly aquatic mammal and would have lived in and around the freshwater pools in the forests that covered the Riversleigh area millions of years ago said Dr. Suzanne Hand of the University of New south wales a co-author of the study.

Obdurodon tharalkooschild was a very large platypus with well-developed teeth and we think it probably fed not only on crayfish

The oldest platypus fossils come from 61 million-year-old rocks in southern South america. Younger platypus fossils are known from Australia in what is now the Simpson Desert.

Before the discovery of Obdurodon tharalkooschild these fossils suggested that platypuses became smaller and reduced the size of their teeth through time.

The modern platypus completely lacks teeth as an adult and instead bears horny pads in its mouth.

The name Obdurodon comes from the Greek for lasting (obdurate) tooth and was coined to distinguish extinct toothed platypuses from the essentially toothless modern species. Discovery of this new species was a shock to us

because prior to this the fossil record suggested that the evolutionary tree of platypuses was relatively linear one said Dr. Michael Archer of the University of New south wales a co-author of the study.

Now we realize that there were unanticipated side branches on this tree some of which became gigantic.

The specific epithet of the new species tharalkooschild honors an Indigenous Australian creation story about the origin of the platypus.

and egg-laying habit of a duck along with the fur and front feet of a rodent--the first Platypus.