Duck-billed platypus, Ornithorhynchus anatinus
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Where are they found? Australia ...
Duck-Billed Platypus
This family consists of a single species - the duck-billed platypus. It is only found in Eastern Australia and is one of only two mammals that lay eggs.
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Duck-billed platypuses are one of three species of monotremes. These species are unique among mammals in that they retain the ancestral characteristic of egg laying.
Duck-billed platypus
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The duck-billed platypus (Platypus anatinus) was the name assigned to one of the most remarkable of known animals by George Shaw (1751-1813), ...
There are only three living monotremes, the duck-billed platypus and four species of echidna, or "spiny anteaters," such as the one shown at left. All of them are found only in Australia and New Guinea.
The platypus, specifically the Duck-Billed Platypus, is indigenous to eastern Australia and Tasmania, ...
*** The echidnas and the duck-billed platypus differ from all other mammals in that they lay shell-covered eggs that are incubated and hatched outside of the body of the mother.
Broken River is probably the best spot in Australia to see the Duck-billed Platypus. I went down to the viewing platform in the morning and was able to take this picture when it finally got light. I saw about 4 animals.
This animal may have sharp spines, but it isn't a porcupine! It's one of two types of primitive egg-laying mammals, or monotremes. (The other is the duck-billed platypus.)
A Living Pincushion ...
Monotremes are so different from other mammals that scientists think they may be descended from a separate mammal-like reptilian stock. The duck-billed platypus is in this order. Marsupials make up the metatheria subclass.
Lice (singular: louse) (order: Phthiraptera) are an order of over 3,000 species of wingless parasitic insects. They are obligate ectoparasites of every mammalian and avian order, with the notable exception of Monotremata (the duck-billed platypus and ...
It is a monotreme which is a very small and exclusive group of animals which are egg-laying mammals. Apart from the very rare Long-beaked Echidna Zaglossus bruijni, the only other member of the family is the Duck-billed Platypus Ornithorhynchus ...
 See also: Platypus, Duck, Echidna, Marsupial, Diver
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