Caruso329
02-24-2006, 07:33 AM
Platypus
The platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) is a small, semi-aquatic mammal endemic to the eastern part of Australia, and one of the four extant monotremes, the only mammals that lay eggs instead of giving birth to live young (the other three are echidnas). It is the sole representative of its family (Ornithorhynchidae) and genus (Ornithorhynchus), though a number of fossilised relatives have been found, some of them also in the Ornithorhynchus genus.
The platypus is considered one of the strangest specimens of the animal kingdom: a venomous, egg-laying, duck-billed mammal.
The platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) is a small, semi-aquatic mammal endemic to the eastern part of Australia, and one of the four extant monotremes, the only mammals that lay eggs instead of giving birth to live young (the other three are echidnas). It is the sole representative of its family (Ornithorhynchidae) and genus (Ornithorhynchus), though a number of fossilised relatives have been found, some of them also in the Ornithorhynchus genus.
The platypus is considered one of the strangest specimens of the animal kingdom: a venomous, egg-laying, duck-billed mammal.