Mammals · Monotremata · Ornithorhynchidae

Platypus

Ornithorhynchus anatinus

Near Threatened

It could become endangered in the near future if current threats go unchecked. See full glossary

One of the few mammals that lay eggs, it combines a duck's bill, a beaver's tail and webbed feet in an evolutionary mixture found nowhere else.

Weight

700 g – 2.4 kg

Size

30 cm – 45 cm

Lifespan

12 years

Diet

Carnivore

Feeds mainly on other animals.

Activity

Nocturnal

Active mainly at night.

Social structure

Solitary

Lives and hunts alone, joining others only to breed.

Sighting difficulty

Moderate

Estimated population

No reliable figure: the IUCN assessment works with a best estimate of some 50,000 animals and other sources give a range of 30,000 to 300,000. It is a nocturnal, semi-aquatic and elusive species with very low recapture rates, which makes it very hard to survey

FreshwaterCarnivore Nocturnal Solitary Near Threatened Freshwater Mammal

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Fun facts

It is one of the few venomous mammals: males carry venomous spurs.
It detects its prey by electroreception.
It has no stomach: food passes straight to the intestine.

Life cycle & biology

Skeleton type: Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (monotreme mammal, egg-laying)
Habitat & environment: Rivers, pools and streams of the wetter parts of eastern Australia and Tasmania
Birth weight: Tiny and undeveloped when the egg hatches, putting on as much as 20 times its weight in its first 14 weeks
Size at birth: Tiny and undeveloped at hatching
Sexual maturity: ~2 years (though many females do not breed until 4)
Gestation / incubation: ~21-27 days of gestation followed by 10-11 days of egg incubation
Litter / clutch size: 1 to 3 eggs per clutch (most commonly 2)
Lifespan in captivity: Documented record of up to 22.6-30 years

Sources consulted: Australian Platypus Conservancy; AnAge (genomics.senescence.info); Animal Diversity Web; Britannica; EBSCO Research Starters; PBS Nature (Platypus Fact Sheet); SDZWA Fact Sheet (Platypus); Woinarski y Burbidge 2016, IUCN Red List: pasó de Preocupación menor a Casi amenazado por declives y extinciones locales observados; se proyecta una reducción de en torno al 30 % en tres generaciones (unos 21 años) || IUCN Red List, evaluación de Ornithorhynchus anatinus (2016); Bino et al. 2019, Biological Conservation || Bino et al. 2019, Biological Conservation; IUCN Red List

Where to find it

See its range on the interactive map

Best time: At dawn and dusk all year round, in the rivers and streams of eastern Australia and Tasmania; those hours of half-light are when it comes out to feed

Australia

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