Fascinating Facts About the Platypus

The platypus is one of the most bizarre and intriguing animals in the world. It seems to be a combination of many other different animals. The platypus has a tail and fur similar to a beaver, a bill and webbed feet like a duck, it produces venom like an insect, lays eggs like a chicken, but nurses its young with milk! A total hodgepodge of different species. What exactly is this strange thing called a platypus and where did it come from? Another planet, maybe? Is it a sophisticated hoax put together by practical jokers? No. It's very real. Even though an old joke says that the platypus is evidence that God has a sense of humor.

Below are a plethora of additional facts about the platypus that you probably weren't aware of.

The platypus is an excellent swimmer and spends most of its day hunting for food in lakes and rivers. Their webbed feet propel them along and their beaver tail helps guide the way. They have folds of skin that cover both their ears and eyes so that water doesn't get into them.

Platypuses can grow fairly large, reaching a length of about 16 inches for males (with 6 inch tails) and weighing around three pounds, while female platypuses are about 10 centimeters smaller than males. The average lifespan of a platypus is about 12 to 15 years.

The platypus lives around lakes and rivers close to Australia, mainly the Eastern side, and in Tasmania. The platypus is regularly known as a symbol and icon for Australia and its image is on one side of the Australian twenty-cent coin.

What does a platypus eat? A variety of different things, but mainly shellfish, worms, larvae, shrimp, and insects, which they put into pouches in their mouths and then mash up to aid digestion. Because they don't have teeth, little rocks that the platypus scoops up with their food from the bottoms of lakes and rivers act as teeth, which they use to grind up their meals. The platypus also stores fat in its tail for later use!

The platypus's scientific name is 'ornithorhynchus anatinus' and Europeans discovered it in 1798. They first thought the animal was an elaborate hoax constructed by taxidermists in Asia - thinking someone had stitched a duck bill onto a beaver.