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  • Duck-Billed Platypus: Aditya Karandikar

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    The document summarizes key facts about the duck-billed platypus. It describes the platypus as a solitary, nocturnal, burrowing mammal that hunts using electroreception. Though it lays eggs and nurses its young, the platypus also possesses venomous spurs, making it a very unique mammal. Genetic research shows the platypus evolved independently for over 166 million years, retaining reptilian traits while also developing mammalian characteristics like lactation.

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    Information about the duck-billed platypus.

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    Platypus Presentation

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    The document summarizes key facts about the duck-billed platypus. It describes the platypus as a solitary, nocturnal, burrowing mammal that hunts using electroreception. Though it lays eggs and nurses its young, the platypus also possesses venomous spurs, making it a very unique mammal. Genetic research shows the platypus evolved independently for over 166 million years, retaining reptilian traits while also developing mammalian characteristics like lactation.

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    16 views7 pages

    Duck-Billed Platypus: Aditya Karandikar

    Uploaded by

    Aditya Karandikar
    The document summarizes key facts about the duck-billed platypus. It describes the platypus as a solitary, nocturnal, burrowing mammal that hunts using electroreception. Though it lays eggs and nurses its young, the platypus also possesses venomous spurs, making it a very unique mammal. Genetic research shows the platypus evolved independently for over 166 million years, retaining reptilian traits while also developing mammalian characteristics like lactation.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
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    of 7

    Duck-Billed

    Platypus

    Aditya Karandikar

    Introduction

    Ornithorhynchus anatinus
    Habitat

    Lakes/ponds

    Rivers/streams

    Barely mammal

    Morphological Characteristics

    Duck, Beaver, or Otter?


    Egg birth
    Helpless newborns
    Venomous stingers
    Sensory waterproofing

    Ears, eyes, nose

    Behaviors

    Burrowers, create tunnels in banks


    Solitary, and mainly nocturnal
    Underwater for minutes at a time, awkward on

    land
    Retractable webbing
    Rely on bills to feed, only young have teeth

    Facts
    Lifespan: 17 years (captivity)
    Diet: carnivore

    Insects, larvae, shellfish, worms, frogs, fish

    Closely related to reptiles


    Most distant living mammalian relative
    Independent evolution, between 166-300 million

    years ago

    Reptilian characteristics and emergence of lactation

    Electrochemical hunting

    Hunting video

    Research

    Evolutionary links between reptiles and mammals


    DNA sequencing

    Genes for egg yolk proteins shared only with reptiles


    and fish

    Complete genes responsible for lactation

    Independent evolution of lactation (mammals),

    venom (snakes), and live birth (mammals)

    Works Cited

    BBC News. BBC, n.d. Web. 27 Sept. 2015.


    "Platypus Genome Reveals Secrets of Mammal

    Evolution."National Geographic. National


    Geographic Society, n.d. Web. 27 Sept. 2015.
    "Platypuses, Platypus Pictures, Platypus Facts -

    National Geographic."National Geographic. N.p.,


    n.d. Web. 27 Sept. 2015.

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