The platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus), sometimes referred to as the duck-billed platypus, is a

semiaquatic, egg-laying mammal endemic to eastern Australia, including Tasmania. The platypus is the
sole living representative of its family (Ornithorhynchidae) and genus (Ornithorhynchus), though a
number of related species appear in the fossil record.

Together with the four species of echidna, it is one of the five extant species of monotremes, the only
mammals that lay eggs instead of giving birth to live young. Like other monotremes, it senses prey
through electrolocation. It is one of the few species of venomous mammals, as the male platypus has a
spur on the hind foot that delivers a venom, capable of causing severe pain to humans. The unusual
appearance of this egg-laying, duck-billed, beaver-tailed, otter-footed mammal baffled European
naturalists when they first encountered it, and the first scientists to examine a preserved platypus body
(in 1799) judged it a fake, made of several animals sewn together.

The unique features of the platypus make it an important subject in the study of evolutionary biology,
and a recognisable and iconic symbol of Australia. It is culturally significant to several Aboriginal peoples
of Australia, who also used to hunt the animal for food. It has appeared as a mascot at national events
and features on the reverse of the Australian twenty-cent coin, and the platypus is the animal emblem
of the state of New South Wales. Until the early 20th century, humans hunted the platypus for its fur,
but it is now protected throughout its range. Although captive-breeding programs have had only limited
success, and the platypus is vulnerable to the effects of pollution, it is not under any immediate threat.

As of 2020, the platypus is a legally protected species in all states where it occurs, but it only listed as an
endangered species in South Australia. The species is classified as a near-threatened species by the
IUCN, but a November 2020 report has recommended that it is upgraded to threatened species under
the federal EPBC Act, due to habitat destruction and declining numbers in all states.

Taxonomy and etymology

Frederick Nodder's illustration from the first scientific description in 1799 of "Platypus anatinus"

When the platypus was first encountered by Europeans in 1798, a pelt and sketch were sent back to
Great Britain by Captain John Hunter, the second Governor of New South Wales.[3] British scientists'
initial hunch was that the attributes were a hoax.[4] George Shaw, who produced the first description of
the animal in the Naturalist's Miscellany in 1799, stated it was impossible not to entertain doubts as to
its genuine nature,[5] and Robert Knox believed it might have been produced by some Asian taxidermist.
[4] It was thought that somebody had sewn a duck's beak onto the body of a beaver-like animal. Shaw
even took a pair of scissors to the dried skin to check for stitches.[6][5]

The common name "platypus" is the latinisation of the Greek word πλατύπους (platupous), "flat-
footed",[7] from πλατύς (platus), "broad, wide, flat"[8] and πούς (pous), "foot".[9][10] Shaw assigned
the species the Linnaean name Platypus anatinus when he initially described it, but the genus term was
quickly discovered to already be in use as the name of the wood-boring ambrosia beetle genus Platypus.
[11] It was independently described as Ornithorhynchus paradoxus by Johann Blumenbach in 1800
(from a specimen given to him by Sir Joseph Banks)[12] and following the rules of priority of
nomenclature, it was later officially recognised as Ornithorhynchus anatinus.[11] The scientific name
Ornithorhynchus anatinus is derived from ορνιθόρυγχος (ornithorhynkhos), which literally means "bird
snout" in Greek; and anatinus, which means "duck-like" in Latin.[13]

There is no universally-agreed plural form of "platypus" in the English language. Scientists generally use
"platypuses" or simply "platypus". Colloquially, the term "platypi" is also used for the plural, although
this is a form of pseudo-Latin;[6] going by the word's Greek roots the plural would be "platypodes". Early
British settlers called it by many names, such as "watermole", "duckbill", and "duckmole".[6] The name
"platypus" is occasionally prefixed with the adjective "duck-billed" to form "duck-billed platypus".

Description

Platypus in Broken River, Queensland

In David Collins's account of the new colony 1788–1801, he describes coming across "an amphibious
animal, of the mole species". His account includes a drawing of the animal.[14]

The body and the broad, flat tail of the platypus are covered with dense, brown, biofluorescent fur that
traps a layer of insulating air to keep the animal warm.[6][11][15] The fur is waterproof, and the texture
is akin to that of a mole.[16] The platypus uses its tail for storage of fat reserves (an adaptation also
found in animals such as the Tasmanian devil[17]). The webbing on the feet is more significant on the
front feet and is folded back when walking on land. The elongated snout and lower jaw are covered in
soft skin, forming the bill. The nostrils are located on the dorsal surface of the snout, while the eyes and
ears are located in a groove set just back from it; this groove is closed when swimming.[11] Platypuses
have been heard to emit a low growl when disturbed and a range of other vocalisations have been
reported in captive specimens.[6]

A colour print of platypuses from 1863

Weight varies considerably from 0.7 to 2.4 kg (1 lb 9 oz to 5 lb 5 oz), with males being larger than
females. Males average 50 cm (20 in) in total length, while females average 43 cm (17 in),[11] with
substantial variation in average size from one region to another. This pattern does not seem to follow
any particular climatic rule and may be due to other environmental factors, such as predation and
human encroachment.[18]
The platypus has an average body temperature of about 32 °C (90 °F) rather than the 37 °C (99 °F)
typical of placental mammals.[19] Research suggests this has been a gradual adaptation to harsh
environmental conditions on the part of the small number of surviving monotreme species rather than a
historical characteristic of monotremes.[20][21]

Modern platypus young have three teeth in each of the maxillae (one premolar and two molars) and
dentaries (three molars), which they lose before or just after leaving the breeding burrow;[11] adults
have heavily keratinised pads in their place.[11] The first upper and third lower cheek teeth of platypus
nestlings are small, each having one principal cusp, while the other teeth have two main cusps.[22] The
platypus jaw is constructed differently from that of other mammals, and the jaw-opening muscle is
different.[11] As in all true mammals, the tiny bones that conduct sound in the middle ear are fully
incorporated into the skull, rather than lying in the jaw as in pre mammalian synapsids. However, the
external opening of the ear still lies at the base of the jaw.[11] The platypus has extra bones in the
shoulder girdle, including an interclavicle, which is not found in other mammals.[11] As in many other
aquatic and semiaquatic vertebrates, the bones show osteosclerosis, increasing their density to provide
ballast.[23] It has a reptilian gait, with the legs on the sides of the body, rather than underneath.[11]
When on land, it engages in knuckle-walking on its front feet, to protect the webbing between the toes.
[24]

Venom

Main article: Platypus venom

The calcaneus spur found on the male's hind limb is used to deliver venom.

While both male and female platypuses are born with ankle spurs, only the spurs on the male's back
ankles deliver venom,[25][26][27] composed largely of defensin-like proteins (DLPs), three of which are
unique to the platypus.[28] The DLPs are produced by the immune system of the platypus. The function
of defensins is to cause lysis in pathogenic bacteria and viruses, but in platypuses they also are formed
into venom for defence. Although powerful enough to kill smaller animals such as dogs, the venom is
not lethal to humans, but the pain is so excruciating that the victim may be incapacitated.[28][29]
Oedema rapidly develops around the wound and gradually spreads throughout the affected limb.
Information obtained from case histories and anecdotal evidence indicates the pain develops into a
long-lasting hyperalgesia (a heightened sensitivity to pain) that persists for days or even months.[30][31]
Venom is produced in the crural glands of the male, which are kidney-shaped alveolar glands connected
by a thin-walled duct to a calcaneus spur on each hind limb. The female platypus, in common with
echidnas, has rudimentary spur buds that do not develop (dropping off before the end of their first year)
and lack functional crural glands.[11]

The venom appears to have a different function from those produced by non-mammalian species; its
effects are not life-threatening to humans, but nevertheless powerful enough to seriously impair the
victim. Since only males produce venom and production rises during the breeding season, it may be
used as an offensive weapon to assert dominance during this period.[28]

Similar spurs are found on many archaic mammal groups, indicating that this is an ancient characteristic
for mammals as a whole, and not exclusive to the platypus or other monotremes.[32]

Electrolocation

Platypus shown to children

Monotremes are the only mammals (apart from at least one species of dolphin)[33] known to have a
sense of electroreception: they locate their prey in part by detecting electric fields generated by
muscular contractions. The platypus's electroreception is the most sensitive of any monotreme.[34][35]

The electroreceptors are located in rostrocaudal rows in the skin of the bill, while mechanoreceptors
(which detect touch) are uniformly distributed across the bill. The electrosensory area of the cerebral
cortex is contained within the tactile somatosensory area, and some cortical cells receive input from
both electroreceptors and mechanoreceptors, suggesting a close association between the tactile and
electric senses. Both electroreceptors and mechanoreceptors in the bill dominate the somatotopic map
of the platypus brain, in the same way human hands dominate the Penfield homunculus map.[36][37]

The platypus can determine the direction of an electric source, perhaps by comparing differences in
signal strength across the sheet of electroreceptors. This would explain the characteristic side-to-side
motion of the animal's head while hunting. The cortical convergence of electrosensory and tactile inputs
suggests a mechanism that determines the distance of prey that, when they move, emit both electrical
signals and mechanical pressure pulses. The platypus uses the difference between arrival times of the
two signals to sense distance.[35]

Feeding by neither sight nor smell,[38] the platypus closes its eyes, ears, and nose each time it dives.[39]
Rather, when it digs in the bottom of streams with its bill, its electroreceptors detect tiny electric
currents generated by muscular contractions of its prey, so enabling it to distinguish between animate
and inanimate objects, which continuously stimulate its mechanoreceptors.[35] Experiments have
shown the platypus will even react to an "artificial shrimp" if a small electric current is passed through it.
[40]

Monotreme electrolocation probably evolved in order to allow the animals to forage in murky waters,
and may be tied to their tooth loss.[41] The extinct Obdurodon was electroreceptive, but unlike the
modern platypus it foraged pelagically (near the ocean surface).[41]
Eyes

In recent studies it has been suggested that the eyes of the platypus are more similar to those of Pacific
hagfish or Northern Hemisphere lampreys than to those of most tetrapods. The eyes also contain
double cones, which most mammals do not have.[42]

Although the platypus's eyes are small and not used under water, several features indicate that vision
played an important role in its ancestors. The corneal surface and the adjacent surface of the lens is flat
while the posterior surface of the lens is steeply curved, similar to the eyes of other aquatic mammals
such as otters and sea-lions. A temporal (ear side) concentration of retinal ganglion cells, important for
binocular vision, indicates a role in predation, while the accompanying visual acuity is insufficient for
such activities. Furthermore, this limited acuity is matched by a low cortical magnification, a small lateral
geniculate nucleus and a large optic tectum, suggesting that the visual midbrain plays a more important
role than the visual cortex, as in some rodents. These features suggest that the platypus has adapted to
an aquatic and nocturnal lifestyle, developing its electrosensory system at the cost of its visual system;
an evolutionary process paralleled by the small number of electroreceptors in the short-beaked echidna,
which dwells in dry environments, whilst the long-beaked echidna, which lives in moist environments, is
intermediate between the other two monotremes.[36]

Biofluorescence

In 2020, research in biofluorescence revealed the platypus is one of the monotremes that glow when
exposed to black light in a bluish-green colour.[43]