Platypus book

This is a book of Platypuses

With facts, videos and text that you can also find on the website.

Facts taken from Live Science

Enjoy

CONSERVATION STATUS

Platypuses are not endangered, but the International Union for Conservation of Nature .(IUCN) lists them as “near threatened,” meaning the species may be vulnerable to extinction in the near future but does not currently qualify as threatened.

The platypus was first listed as near threatened in 2016 after scientists observed a decline in the species’ overall numbers, “although the decline is poorly defined and inconsistent across the platypus’s range,” the Australian Platypus Conservatory notes on its website.

BABY PLATYPUSES

Most mammals give birth to live young. Platypuses, however, lay eggs. Mammals that lay eggs are known as monotremes, and besides the platypus, the only other monotremes are echidnas, or spiny anteaters, according to the University of Melbourne. Echidnas are found only in Australia and New Guinea.

When female platypuses are ready to have their young, they burrow inside the ground on the riverbank and seal themselves into tunnel rooms. Each female then lays one to three eggs and places them between her rump and her tail to keep them warm. After about 10 days, the eggs hatch and the bean-size babies nurse for three to four months inside their burrow, according to the Australian Museum.

Around the time of weaning, baby platypuses can swim on their own, according to the Australian Platypus Conservatory.