Platypus

(ornithorhynchus anatinus)

The Platypus is without question, the most unique mammal on Earth. It's ancestry dates back an incredible 130,000,000 years. It's range is from Cookland in far north Queensland to Victoria and Tasmania. In New South Wales it's range extends about three hundred kilometres to the west of the Eastern Seaboard.

Male Platypus have a poisonous spur in their back feet, making them the only venomous mammal on the planet. Although extremely painful its unlikely to be fatal to humans. The only relative of the Platypus is the Echidna, to which they both belong to the family of monotremes. Monotremes are the only egg laying mammals left on Earth. Platypus eggs are about seventeen millimetres and usually two are laid.

The duck-like bill is rubbery and has receptors capable of detecting electrical energy, movement and vibration in insects as small as may fly larvae. So sensitive are the receptors that the Platypus actually closes it's eyes and nostrils when hunting for food underwater. The Platypus' diet consists of aquatic invertebrates, small fish and insects. When it has caught it's prey, it is stored in pouches in it's cheeks and eaten when it returns to the surface of the water, this is when the Platypus can be viewed.

Spring, Autumn and especially Summer are the best times of year to see Platypus, usually in the hour before sunset or before seven thirty in the morning. Only three in every one thousand Australians will be privileged with viewing a platypus in the wild.

The underfur on the Platypus is extremely fine and dense and it also has guard hairs which enable the Platypus to remain submerged for long periods without getting wet. Platypus have webbed front feet and their swimming style is similar to a dog paddle, but with a more horizontal action. The tail of a Platypus acts like a rudder, the back feet rest against the tail and push the tail left or right depending on which direction it chooses to go. The tail is also a good indication of fat reserves and condition of the platypus.  While male burrows are a simple construction, female burrows are far more complex. They can extend up to twenty metres into the bank with false tunnels and the female will actually pack mud before the nest to give the impression of a dead end. Platypus also have many resting burrows along their territory and they have a horizontal, oval-like appearance.

Platypus are solitary and when fully grown, rarely grow to more than fifty centimetres in length. Predators are minimal, but can fall victim to dogs, cats and foxes when traveling overland in times of drought. Severe drought is a concern to Platypus as is pollution of waterways. Loss of vegetation on the banks can cause erosion to favoured burrowing sites and poor fishing practices mainly due to netting can drown a Platypus.

Platypus Gallery

All the pictures were taken on our wildlife tours.