![]() Their beaks are very sensitive to touch and are often used to probe mud in river beds for the larvae of the small insects they most commonly eat. The platypus' beaks are soft and flexible, covered with a multitude of sensory receptors that help them detect tiny electrical signals from their prey. One of the platypus' most notable and unusual features is its broad beak, which looks like a duck's bill. Their front feet are fully webbed to help propel the platypus forward through the water, and when on land they can turn back to expose their large nails to help them access banks when walking or digging. They have shorter limbs, partially webbed hind feet, and a broad, flat tail (similar to that of a beaver) that serves as a rudder underwater. The platypus is a small, streamlined animal covered with short, dense, water-resistant fur that varies in color from dark brown on the back to light brown or silvery underside with purple in between. ![]() The platypus is one of the few monotremes, easily recognizable by its duckbill-like snout. There seems to be some evidence that while platypus now live in freshwater in Australia, they once lived in many more places, including South America! This is possible because of Australia's geographic connection to South America through Antarctica millions of years ago. When the first platypus specimen arrived in Britain in 1798, it was considered a hoax because the platypus looked like a mixture of mammal and bird. They do, however, use their mammary glands to hold and feed their young-the fundamental feature from which the class Mammalia gets its name. The platypus, along with the short-nosed and long-nosed echidnas, are the only mammals known to lay eggs rather than give birth to live young, making them truly unique and causing them to not be considered true mammals for a long time animals. Known for their distinctive appearance, the platypus belongs to a small group of mammals called monotremes, of which there are only a handful of species. The platypus (also commonly called the platypus) is a small semi-aquatic mammal native to the east coast of Australia.
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