![]() I don't know why, but when I was growing up, I always imagined that platypuses would be fairly large critters - not unlike a recently discovered branch in the platypus tree that went extinct 5-15 million years ago. Platypuses are about the size of a house cat Other cool echidna features include their body covering which includes a mixture of course hair and dense, pointy, spines.Įchidnas at Berkeley's Museum of Vertebrate ZoologyĮchidnas also have long durable nails that they use for digging in the sand and dirt.Ĥ. Perhaps one of the most notable is that there are at least four species of echidna, and only one species of platypus. While they share some characteristics that are unique to monotreme mammals (relative to other mammals), such as egg-laying and oozing milk out of mammary pores instead of having nipples, the two groups of species have accumulated many differences. Echidnas and platypuses diverged from one another about 64 million years ago. In addition to the platypus, there is another group of monotreme mammals that lay eggs: Echidnas. The platypus is not the only egg-laying mammal. That doesn't mean that it isn't useful to understand more about the platypus, but interpretations should be careful not to assume the platypus has maintained the ancestral state of all mammalian traits.ģ. As humans we share a common ancestor with platypuses, approximately 220 million years ago. Monotreme mammals have been evolving for the same amount of time as all other mammals. Platypuses are part of the group of egg-laying mammals called "monotremes." These are not "proto-mammals." Nor are they "primitive". The platypus is not the ancestor of modern mammals, it is a modern mammal.Īlthough it lays eggs, and doesn't have breasts or nipples, the platypus is still classified as a mammal. The beaver has a large, flat, hairless tail. By Steve, Washington, DC via Wikimedia CommonsĢ. The platypus bill is wide and flat, and appears to be more leathery than the hard duck bill.īy DickDaniels () (Own work) via Wikimedia CommonsĪnd, even though popular cartoons continue to draw its tail as if it were beaver-like, the platypus tail is relatively short, and is covered with soft brown fur, not at all like a beaver's large hairless tail: Upon closer inspection, looking at the picture above, the platypus bill looks very little like a duck bill at all. The population of platypuses evolved, like all other living organisms. A duck and a beaver cannot produce an offspring together. The platypus is not a "cross" between a duck and a beaver.īecause of its unique features, there is a lot of confusion about the platypus. Before a post about their chromosomes, there's a few things we need to clear up.ġ. ![]() ![]() Platypuses have a lot of unique characteristics, but one of the features I find most fascinating is their sex chromosomes. The platypus is currently tied for my favorite mammal (along with hedgehogs and manatees). Platypuses at Berkeley's Museum of Vertebrate Zoology
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