Natures Oddities Part 5: The Platypus

I initially resisted canonizing the Platypus into my nature’s oddities list for two reasons: 1) many people know of the animal 2) it lacks a single outstanding odd feature (like super mucus, super senses, or ability to live in extreme situations).



The platypus instead represents a tremendous assortment of little oddities. It is perhaps the true variety oddball, so strange that the first scientists who examined its pelt thought it was trick by a mischievous “Asian taxidermist.”

The platypus is one of the few mammals that lay eggs. Yes, it does not carry its young in a womb, however it does nurse its young with milk, but even more oddly, it does not have teats. Rather, it secretes milk (along with copius immune boosting chemicals since baby platapi have rudimentary immume function) through patches of its skin. It is one of the few mammals with venom, and the only mammal that delivers its venom in a way other than a bite. The male has a venomous spur on its hind legs, which can incapacitate an adult human due to excruciating pain. The venom is unlike any other venom in the animal world, using defensin-like proteins, which are normally reserved for innate immune functions like killing bacteria.



They have a beak, but growl like a typically-jawed mammal. They have no teeth as adults. Instead they have keratinized (the material fingernails are made of) tufts. They have a reptilian gait, unlike all other mammals. And they swim only with their front legs, and use their rear legs as rudders, another feature shared by no other mammal. They are the only mammals that locate their prey using electroreception. They can detect the electric fields generated by nervous and muscle activity in their prey (shrimps, worms, small crayfish, and other mud-dwelling critters). They have an extremely low body temperature for a mammal 90 F (most mammals are around 100 F). They have ten sex chromosomes, a trait no other animal shares. Most animals have two. They store fat in their tails like Tasmanian devils.

They have few enemies, mostly birds of prey, alligators, and some large lizards. They males are deadbeats, and the mothers roost their (clutches of 4-5 usually) eggs in a simple burrow made just above water. They are semi-aquatic and semi-nocturnal; they cannot make up their mind on anything. They have tremendous energy needs and need to consume around 25% of their body weight daily to survive. Therefore, they spend around 12 hours a day sifting thought the mud with their electroreceptor-laden beaks.

What an odd animal indeed. No wonder the Aussies put her on their 20 cent coin!