~Anatomy~Habitat~Introduction~Ecology~
~Anatomy~Habitat~Introduction~Ecology~
Diet
The Platypus has a diet that consists of invertebrates such as yabbies, shrimp, crayfish, mussels, immature dragonflies, mayflies, true flies and caddis flies, earth worms, mealworms, trout eggs, tadpoles small frogs and fish.
Detecting prey
The platypus locates its prey underwater by using electroreceptors that sense the electric current of its prey. The prey creates these currents when it moves. The platypus finds its food in this manner because under the water it must close its eyes, ears and nostrils. This is why the platypus is so good at hunting at night or in murky water.Once prey is caught the platypus stores it in a cheek pouch while it forages for more food underwater. When the cheek pouches are full or the platypus needs to breathe, it returns to the surface. There it chews its food with the rough grinding pads it has in the jaws instead of teeth. In the lower jaw are serrations in the skin that are thought to be involved in the sorting of chewed food particles. The tail of the platypus stores fat for when food supplies are low and energy is needed or when the platypus needs more energy to incubate eggs.
The digestive tract is relatively short in a platypus. A female of 440mm long has a digestive tract 1,400 mm long. The platypus has a thin walled, small stomach. Nothing is known about the platypus' digestive process because the food is so finely ground. This makes it is hard to examine after reaching the digestive tract. Therefore the analysis of food is taken in the cheek pouches.
