The Platypus Essay

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The Duck-Billed Platypus has no other members in its family. However, some common characteristics of The Duck-Billed Platypus are that it has a long, leathery bill, like a duck’s. The bill is used for many different things, mainly eating food. It also has a long, brown, leathery tail, like a beaver’s. This tail helps it swim. The platypus also has webbed toes, which help it swim in the water. It has thick, brown, waterproof fur, like a beaver’s or sea otter’s. The fur is used to keep the platypus warm. Male platypuses have poisonous spurs on their hind legs to protect themselves, but female platypuses do not have any spurs. Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Monotremata Family: Ornithorhynchidae Genus: Ornithorhynchus Species: anatinus When a Duck-Billed Platypus is first born it weighs about 1.5 lbs. An adult male platypus can weigh about 2 – 4 lbs and an adult female can weigh about 1.7 – 3.4 lbs. A platypus can be from 17 – 24 inches long. When a baby platypus hatches, it is both blind and hairless. Both male and female baby platypuses are hatched with spurs on their hind legs. However, the female platypuses shed its spurs and do not grow any more. The baby then spends about 4 months growing in the burrow. "Duck-Billed Platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus)." TheBIGzoo.com - Virtual Zoo, Zoo Store, Zoo News. 25 Jan. 2009 <http://www.thebigzoo.com/Animals/Duck-Billed_Platypus.asp>. "Duck-Billed Platypus:." The Animal Files. 04 Jan. 2008 <http://www.theanimalfiles.com/mammals/egg_laying_mammals/duck_billed_platypus.html>. Ojo, Evelyn. "ADW: Ornithorhynchus anatinus: Information." Animal Diversity Web. 24 Dec. 2008 <http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Ornithorhynchus_anatinus.html>. "PLATYPUS." The Complete Platypus. Ed. George Agnew. 11 Jan. 2009 <http://www.platypus.org.uk/>. "Platypusfood." Welcome

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