The courting ritual lasts for several weeks, during which time the female plays coy and refuses his advances until she is receptive. They mate with any male in their territory, assuming he is probably the biggest and strongest in the area. Females do not appear to be picky about the male they couple up with. The victor wins whatever females reside in his newly won territory. These fights are rarely fatal the toxins usually paralyse the loser until it retreats. To do this, the male produces venom in its rear spurs and battles other males for the female's affection. Scientists believe the platypus lost its stomach because its diet does not require a complex organ, such as a stomach, to break down its food.ĭuring the mating season between June and October, a male platypus has only one aim: to win territory and secure any females within it. Instead, it has a sac between its oesophagus and intestine that secretes powerful digestive acids and enzymes to break down its food. The platypus spends 10-12 hours a day foraging for food and consumes 15-30% of its body mass in food each day. Once on the surface, the platypus retrieves the morsels stored in its cheek pouches, grinds its food between two bony plates on their upper and lower jaws, and swallows the mashed-up food. In 30 to 60 seconds, when its oxygen supply starts to run out, the platypus heads back up to the surface. Then, it continues to search for more prey. It stores its catch temporarily in cheek pouches located just behind its jaw. Then, quickly homing in on these signals, the platypus shovels them out of the stream-bed with its bill and pounces on them. Females nurse their young for three to four months until the babies can swim on their own.The platypus hunts by moving its head from side to side as it swims underwater and picks up the tell-tale electrical signals given off by its prey. The eggs hatch in about ten days, but platypus infants are the size of lima beans and totally helpless. A mother typically produces one or two eggs and keeps them warm by holding them between her body and her tail.
It is one of only two mammals (the echidna is the other) that lay eggs.įemales seal themselves inside one of the burrow's chambers to lay their eggs. Platypuses use their nails and feet to construct dirt burrows at the water's edge.
However, the webbing on their feet retracts to expose individual nails and allow the creatures to run. On land, platypuses move a bit more awkwardly. Platypuses do not have teeth, so the bits of gravel help them to “chew” their meal. All this material is stored in cheek pouches and, at the surface, mashed for consumption. They scoop up insects and larvae, shellfish, and worms in their bill along with bits of gravel and mud from the bottom. These Australian mammals are bottom feeders. In this posture, a platypus can remain submerged for a minute or two and employ its sensitive bill to find food.
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Folds of skin cover their eyes and ears to prevent water from entering, and the nostrils close with a watertight seal. Platypuses hunt underwater, where they swim gracefully by paddling with their front webbed feet and steering with their hind feet and beaverlike tail.
They have sharp stingers on the heels of their rear feet and can use them to deliver a strong toxic blow to any foe. The animal is best described as a hodgepodge of more familiar species: the duck (bill and webbed feet), beaver (tail), and otter (body and fur). In fact, the first scientists to examine a specimen believed they were the victims of a hoax. The platypus is among nature's most unlikely animals.
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