preview

The Life Style of The Platypus Essay

Best Essays

The platypus is a very unique and interesting mammal. It is only one of five species

on Earth in the order Monotremata. The order Monotremata is the order that lays eggs.

The platypus is the only egg-laying mammal known to this day ("The Amazing

Platypus"). The average number of eggs the female platypus lays is only two at one

time. The female lays the eggs in a hole that is specifically made for laying the eggs. The

male platypus becomes more active during breeding time compared to his every day

lifestyle ("Egg Laying Mammals"). After the female lays the eggs, they are incubated for

about ten to fourteen days. After the egg has hatched, the platypus infants will stay with

their mother until they …show more content…

The platypus has very acute eyesight, and its eyes are very small. The platypus only

opens its eyes above water so it can detect movement on the riverbank. The platypus can hear

very similar to the way humans hear. They are very sensitive to low frequencies that humans

cannot hear ("DPIPWE- Platypus in Tasmania"). The platypus is about the size of a normal cat.

They are between thirty and sixty centimeters long, and they weigh two to four pounds. The tail

of the platypus is just used to store fat instead of used for swimming. Also, the platypus has to

keep swimming in order to stay underwater or else they would float ("Platypus facts Duck-billed

Platypuses Monotremes").

The lifestyle of the platypus is very simple because the platypus does the same thing nearly

every day. They spend nearly twelve hours a day searching for food in the water. The platypus

can eat its own body weight in just one night! The reproduction stage of the platypus is quite

simple. The two mate underwater, and the female lays her eggs in the burrow made for the eggs.

The eggs usually hatch after one month, and the young suck on mammary glands on the mother's

stomach for their milk ("Platypus Facts"). The young ones suck on mammary glands because

the mother lacks nipples ("Platypus facts, Information, Pictures"). Since the platypus is

underwater most of the time, its food is an easy guess. They eat

Get Access