![]() ![]() Additionally, about 40,000 electroreceptors help them find the direction and distance of prey (its eyes and ears are closed while it’s underwater) by detecting electrical impulses generated by living creatures. This strange-looking snout is laden with “pushrods” that respond to stimuli like touch, pressure, sound waves, and motion. It is dark colored, nearly black in contrast to its chocolate-colored coat. Its signature “duck bill” is actually soft and pliable, not hard like a duck’s bill at all. Its rear feet serve as rudders and brakes. Its plump tail serves as a stabilizer during swimming and stores extra fat for energy. While lumbering somewhat awkwardly on land to protect the webbing on its feet, they are sleek missiles in the water. Those big webbed feet help propel them through the water, and the claws make digging burrows a breeze. Mostly brown on its body, there’s a flash of white fur beneath its eyes, and its belly is lighter in color, too. Long guard hairs protect the dense fur underneath, which stays dry even after a platypus has been in the water for hours. Platypus fur is waterproof and traps an insulating layer of air to keep its body temperature stable, even in cold water. Their dense fur makes fine insulation, both in the water and out. While their range is just one small area of the world, they weather many climate extremes (and fresh water sources) from toasty plateaus and rainforests, to the chilly mountainous regions of Tasmania and the Australian Alps. At a glance, it looks like a hodgepodge of animal pieces stitched together: a paddle-shaped tail from an otter, a sleek body covered in dense, chestnut-colored fur like a mole, a wide, flat duck-like bill attached in front of its little round eyes, and big webbed feet like a pelican.Īll these characteristics come in handy for its freshwater lifestyle-that bizarre looking bill is laden with thousands of receptors that help a platypusl navigate the murky depths and detect tiny movements of potential food like shellfish or insects. "Hmm? But didn't you know, little one? The otter in that story is me, and you're my perfect little platypus who gave us our lovely little home."Īs the duck watched at the door, happily forlorn.The platypus is as fascinating on the inside as it is on the outside! Among Australia’s most iconic wildlife, this semi-aquatic, egg-laying species is also one of the few venomous mammals. mom, that is amazing! I wish I could be a platypus!" ![]() The result of their love was the perfect child, someone who could combine the best of them, and someone who could finally make them a home." The duck and the otter went on to have many children, a platypus each and every one. wait, mom! Where did the platypus come from?" But it is out there, if you're willing to search for it. You may find your love in a place you never would have thunk. It springs up in unexpected ways, and finds you caught unawares. "And it wasn't easy, my dearest little one. The otter sat there puzzled for a moment, and simply said, 'The forest will never accept us,' she continued, but. 'And why not? You're a little better under water and I'm a bit better on land. 'But otters and ducks don't go together,' The otter complained. 'Well I don't know if you'll have me, but if there's no one better, you can take me in your stead?' 'I'm looking for a way to make a home,' She said, 'I've been looking all day because I'm all alone and quite lonely.' uh' the nervous duck said, 'What are you doing there?' But right as he was about to give up he came across a stream, and in there a beautiful little otter was there waiting for him. It came to a time when the duck had asked just about everyone in the forest if they would love him. He asked a cat, but the cat just laughed. He asked a walrus, but the walrus couldn't be bothered. He asked a spider, but the spider had a home. And that there was no place for a little duck. But when he asked the deer, she ruefully claimed she already had a family. So he kept on going until he found a deer. The duck was sad, of course, but he was much more saddened to think that he'd be alone. So the duck went to the lioness and said 'Miss would you like to make a family with me?' But the lioness was proud and scornful, and turned the duck away. The duck just wanted a place to belong, you see. So the duck went to look for someone, to make his own little family with. And the duck was alone in the forest, because its family had grown up much too much. "Where, oh where, does the platypus come from?"Īnd she told the story of where the platypus did come from. ![]()
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