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The platypus: What nature’s weirdest mammal says about our origins
Platypuses glow in UV light, produce venom and lay eggs. Yet despite their oddities, their newly sequenced genome illuminates the evolution of mammals Life 5 May 2021
Doug Gimesy/naturepl.com
WHEN news reached London of a mole-like animal with webbed feet and a duck’s bill, many people thought it was a hoax. It was the late 18th century, Britain had just begun colonising Australia and the strange creature had been spotted by no less a figure than David Collins, founder of New South Wales. However, when zoologist George Shaw at the British Museum examined sketches and specimens of the animal, he was sceptical. “It naturally excites the idea of some deceptive preparation by artificial means,” he wrote.
The Weird Animal with Ten Sex Chromosomes
The platypus is a near-threatened species from eastern Australia and Tasmania. The platypus is considered to be a mammal because it grows hair, has mammary glands, and three bones in the middle ears. Their beaks are filled with electrical sensors that help them find prey - insects and shellfish in the muddy rivers it roams. Males carry a venomous spur behind each hind leg, which might be deployed when they fight another male for territory. These egg-laying animals have fur that glows under UV light and carry ten sex chromosomes, unlike any other animal.