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Thursday, January 22, 2015

Meet The Platypus - Duck Bills and Fur from Down Under

2 unusual sisters swim in Sydney harbor's beautiful aquarium.


Ornithorhynchus anatinus - the platypus belongs to a sub-group of mammals (monotremes) that lay eggs instead of bearing live young.



Not much is cuter than the duck-billed platypus!

Watch their bright white eyelids close as they use their webbed front feet and beaver-like tail to dive and swim under the water! The platypus closes its eyes, ears, and nose each time it dives. 

 
Using electroreceptors on its bill, it can sense the faint electrical signals generated by muscular contractions of its prey- freshwater shrimps, tiny annelid worms and insect larvae.


Share another EarthMinute from Sydney Aquarium with a rare marine mammal, the dugong (Dugong dugon).


 Swim over to The Earth Minute each week for a new one-minute adventure.
Along with echidnas, Platypuses are grouped in a separate order of mammals known as monotremes - See more at: http://australianmuseum.net.au/Platypus/#sthash.kfACwoOf.dpuf
Along with echidnas, Platypuses are grouped in a separate order of mammals known as monotremes - See more at: http://australianmuseum.net.au/Platypus/#sthash.kfACwoOf.dpuf

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