SB025 Biology Semester 2

Kolej Matrikulasi Sarawak

ASSIGNMENT 1: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Title: Biodiversity and Ecology of Ornithorhynchus anatinus

Student’s Name: DARREN LEE HUA EE

Matric Number: MS2225208152

IC Number: 040907130011

Tutorial: K2T4A

Lecturer’s Name: MR AWANG NAJIB BIN AWANG MOHAMAD

Semester 2

Session 2022/2023

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Introduction background were amused by this unique

creature. Presence of mammary gland and

egg-laying behavior has totally attracted the

global attention and conduct research on it.

Distribution of platypus in Australia (Bino et al,

2019)

Ornithorhynchus anatinus,
Ornithorhynchus anatinus (Bino et al, 2019)
commonly known as the platypus, is a semi-
Is platypus a mammal?
aquatic mammal that mainly distributed
Ornithorhynchus anatinus has
eastern mainland Australia, Tasmania and
puzzled the biologists for a very long time.
adjacent King Island. (Bino et al, 2019).
Before this, people, even the biologists,
Ornithorhynchus anatinus is under the
believed that the living things that have
domain of Eukaryota, kingdom of Animalia,
mammary gland can be identified as mammal.
phylum of Chordata, class of Mammalia,
However, Ornithorhynchus anatinus is an
order of Monotremata, family of
animal that has mammary gland and carry out
Ornithorhynchidae, genus of
egg-laying behavior. To be detailed,
Ornithorhynchus and species as
mammary gland is an exclusive structure for
Ornithorhynchus anatinus. (Hall, 1999) Most
mammal to carry out the process of lactation.
of the people regardless of their scientific
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And egg-laying behavior is the methodology The egg laying behavior of

of reproduction for bird, fish and reptile. Ornithorhynchus anatinus is an even more

Undoubtedly, it has greatly altered the way complicated discussion. In the uterus, the egg

for biologists to think and analyse strange undergoes conjugation of nuclei and cleavage.

species. Eventually, biologists categorize (Grützner et al, 2008) The process is

Ornithorhynchus anatinus as egg-laying incomplete and different compared to higher

mammal, scientifically known as monotreme. mammals. Like the other mammals,

Ornithorhynchus anatinus also develops

Ecology of platypus
placenta. However, the placenta is simpler
Initially, the presence of mammary
than the other mammals and is closer to the
gland or lactating gland in Ornithorhynchus
marsupials’ (pouched mammals) placenta.
anatinus was controversial. Undeniably, the
Then, the eggs are laid after the corpus
presence of mammary gland is very
luteum is formed. Even so, it does not have
important for biologist to study the behavior
pouch like marsupials and Tachyglossus.
of a species in terms of its physiology and

ecological niche. The unclear answer

whether mammary gland is present in

platypus has affected the research progress.

Finally, a biologist, Johann Meckel, has

successfully proved that platypus has

mammary gland. The confusion is due to the A nest removed from the nesting chamber
size of the mammary gland. (Griffiths et al, (Thomas et al, 2017)
1973) The size of the mammary gland is
As aforementioned, Ornithorhynchus
bigger than the other mammals.
anatinus does not have pouch like marsupials

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and Tachyglossus, hence they cannot carry Ecological importance of platypus

the dependent young around with them. Ornithorhynchus anatinus is a semi-

However, Ornithorhynchus anatinus has aquatic mammal that lives in freshwater

nesting behavior and the nest is known as habitats. For the first few years, its ecological

burrow. (Thomas et al, 2017) The species role has been overlooked. The ignorance of

fully depends on the nest to lay eggs and rear Australian biologists causes it to be largely

the young. The burrows can be divided into unexplored and misunderstood. Recently,

nesting burrow and resting burrow. The some of the biologists started the research

resting burrow is used by the adult platypus and fill it into the niche of otters. However,

and simple in structure. Compared to resting some other studies claim that the statement is

burrow, nesting burrow is much more lack of knowledge and totally disagree with

complicated. Nesting burrow has specialized it. (McLachlan-Troup, 2007) The reason is

features and is for the use of offspring and because the dietary habits of the two species

female. The burrow consists of a lot of are totally different. The source of nutrition

tunnels connecting the chambers. They will of platypus is a strong and sound evidence in

eventually be linking back to the main proving that platypus and otter do not have

chamber. Interestingly, female will block up the same niche in the ecosystem. Still, most

the tunnels with soils to fool the intruders that of the biologists agree that its huge

the end has been reached thus protecting the consumption of macroinvertebrates makes it

young in the burrow. It also can maintain the to be suitable in the study of predation at

temperature of the nest. freshwater habitat in Australia ecosystem.

This statement can be proved by the fact that

the species is widely distributed over the

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Australia and becomes an unignorable biotic mammary glands and on the fatty acids of the

component in the ecosystem. triglycerides in platypus and echidna milk

fats. Journal of Zoology, 169(2), 255-279.

Conclusion

Ornithorhynchus anatinus is a unique Grützner, F., Nixon, B., & Jones, R. C.

mammal that lives in freshwater habitats. Its (2008). Reproductive biology in egg-laying

physical appearance allows it to carry out mammals. Sexual Development, 2(3), 115-

predation underwater. Hence, its presence in 127.

the habitat is very important for the studies of

Hall, B. K. (1999). The paradoxical
predation. Overall, Ornithorhynchus
platypus. BioScience, 49(3), 211-218.
anatinus is a mammal which lays egg and
McLachlan-Troup, T. A. (2007). Ecology
mainly lives in Australia.
and functional importance of the platypus
(743 Words)
(Ornithorhynchus anatinus) in Australian

References freshwater habitats (Doctoral dissertation).

Bino, G., Kingsford, R. T., Archer, M.,

Thomas, J., Handasyde, K., Parrott, M. L., &
Connolly, J. H., Day, J., Dias, K., ... &
Temple-Smith, P. (2018). The platypus nest:
Whittington, C. (2019). The platypus:
burrow structure and nesting behaviour in
evolutionary history, biology, and an
captivity. Australian Journal of
uncertain future. Journal of
Zoology, 65(6), 347-356.
mammalogy, 100(2), 308-327.

Griffiths, M., Elliott, M. A., Leckie, R. M. C.,

& Schoefl, G. I. (1973). Observations of the

comparative anatomy and ultrastructure of