| The platypus
is also called "duck billed" and is an egg - laying mammal that lives in
Tasmania and southern and eastern Australia. The platypus has a bill
that looks like a duck. It has a really long snout covered with soft,
leather skin. The body of the platypus is 30 to 45 cm long.
Their feet are webbed. The body and tail are covered with a thick
soft woolly layer of fur. The platypus uses its bill to dig in the
bottom of rivers in order to uncover insects, worms, and shell fish to
eat.
The platypus's
eyes are small. It has good sense of smell and hearing. Young platypus
have partly full grown teeth. In the adults the teeth are replaced
by a few horny plates. Adult males have a hollow, horny spur on the inner
side of the hind leg. Toxic fluid is squeezed out and is used as
a weapon of defense. The call of the platypus is a low growl. The
duckbills are shy animals. They are active only during the early morning
and late evening, and are excellent swimmers and divers. They live in long
burrows, which are usually dug by the females in the banks of rivers or
streams. |
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