Monotreme platypus. Where does the platypus live and what does it eat? Appearance and description

When scientists discovered the platypus in Australia, the very fact of its existence dealt a fatal blow to the theory of evolution: only the Lord God could definitely have created such an unusual creature in every sense.

The nose of this amazing animal surprisingly strongly resembled the beak of a duck (hence the name), and on each foot it had five toes connected by webbed toes. The creature's paws, like those of a reptile, were located on the sides, and spurs were found on the hind legs, like those of a rooster.

The tail of the animal was not much different from the tail of a beaver, and it also turned out that it carried eggs and was capable of poisoning an enemy with its own poison! And this is not a complete list of the amazing features of the animal, which is an unofficial symbol of the Australian continent and is depicted on a twenty-cent coin.

These amazing animals are waterfowl mammals, the only representatives of the platypus family that belong to the order Monotremes. This order is noteworthy in that it includes the echidna, platypus and echidna, and the main feature of its representatives is that the urogenital sinus and intestines of animals do not exit through separate passages, but flow into the cloaca.

The platypus lives in eastern Australia, on Kangaroo Island and in Tasmania, which is 240 km from the Australian coast towards Antarctica. It prefers to live in fresh water, the temperature of which ranges from 25 to 29.9°C.

Previously, this animal could be found throughout the continent, but many of them were exterminated by poachers, and the remaining animals due to too much pollution environment moved to more environmentally friendly regions.

Description

The body of the platypus is tightly knit, short-legged, covered with thick, pleasant to the touch, dark brown hair, which acquires a grayish or reddish tint on the belly. Its head is round in shape, its eyes, as well as its nasal and ear openings are located in recesses, the edges of which meet tightly when the platypus dives.

The animal itself is small:

Body length is from 30 to 40 cm (males are a third larger than females);
Tail length – 15 cm;
Weight – about 2 kg.

The animal's legs are located on the sides, which is why its gait is extremely reminiscent of the movement of reptiles on land. The animal’s paws have five toes, which are ideally suited not only for swimming, but also for digging: the swimming membrane connecting them is interesting because, if necessary, it can bend so much that the animal’s claws will be on the outside, turning a swimming limb into a digging limb.

Since the membranes on the animal’s hind legs are less developed, when swimming it actively uses its front legs, while it uses its hind legs as a rudder, with the tail acting as a balance.

The tail is slightly flat and covered with hair. Interestingly, it can be used to very easily determine the age of the platypus: the older it is, the less fur it has. The animal’s tail is also notable for the fact that it is in it, and not under the skin, that fat reserves are stored.

Beak

The most remarkable thing in the appearance of the animal will, perhaps, be its beak, which looks so unusual that it seems that it was once torn off from a duck, repainted black and attached to its fluffy head.

The beak of the platypus differs from the beak of birds: it is soft and flexible. At the same time, like a duck, it is flat and wide: with a length of 65 mm, its width is 50 mm. Another interesting feature of the beak is that it is covered with elastic skin, which contains a huge number of nerve endings. Thanks to them, the platypus, while on land, has an excellent sense of smell, and is also the only mammal that senses weak electric fields that appear during muscle contraction of even the smallest animals, such as crayfish.

Such electrolocation abilities enable an animal that is blind and deaf in the aquatic environment to detect prey: to do this, while under water, it constantly turns its head in different directions.

An interesting fact is that the platypus is poisonous (besides it, among mammals, only slow lorises, shrews and shrews have such abilities): the animal has toxic saliva, and males also have poisonous horny spurs. At first, all young animals have them, but in females they disappear at the age of one, while in males they grow further and reach one and a half centimeters.

Each spur, through a special duct, connects to a gland located on the thigh, which, during the breeding season, begins to produce poison of such strength that it is quite capable of killing a dingo or any other medium-sized animal (the animals use it mainly to fight other males). The poison is not fatal to humans, however, the injection is extremely painful, and a large tumor appears in its place. The swelling goes away after some time, but the pain may well be felt for several months.

Way of life and nutrition

Platypuses live near swamps, near rivers and lakes, in warm tropical lagoons, and even despite all their love for warm water, can live in cold high mountain streams. This adaptability is explained by the fact that the animals have an extremely low metabolism, and their body temperature is only 32°C. The platypus knows how to regulate it very well, and therefore, even while in water, the temperature of which is 5°C, thanks to the acceleration of metabolism several times, the animal can easily maintain the desired body temperature for several hours.

The platypus lives in a deep hole about ten meters long, in which there are two entrances: one is under water, the other is disguised by thickets or located under the roots of trees. Interestingly, the entrance tunnel is so narrow that when the platypus passes it to get into the inner chamber, the water is squeezed out of the host's coat.

The animal goes hunting at night and spends almost all its time in water: for its full existence, the weight of food eaten per day must be at least a quarter of the animal’s weight. The platypus feeds on insects, crustaceans, frogs, worms, snails, small fish and even algae.

It searches for prey not only in water, but also on land, methodically turning over stones with its beak or claws in search of small animals. As for underwater hunting, it is not easy for the prey to escape from the animal: having found the prey, it instantly takes off, and it usually takes him only a few seconds to grab it.

Having caught food, it does not eat it immediately, but stores it in special cheek pouches. Having collected the required amount of food, the platypus swims to the surface and, without going ashore, grinds it with horny plates, which it uses instead of teeth (only young animals have teeth, but they are so fragile that they wear out very quickly).

Reproduction and offspring

Exactly how long do platypuses live in wildlife, it is not known exactly, but in captivity their life expectancy is about ten years. Therefore, the ability to reproduce offspring in platypuses appears already at the age of two years, and mating season always comes in the spring.

Interesting fact: before the start of the mating season, platypuses always hibernate for no more than ten days. If before the start of the breeding season males do not contact females, during the mating season a considerable number of contenders gather near her, and the males fight fiercely with each other, using poisonous spurs. Despite fierce fights, platypuses do not form permanent pairs: the male immediately after mating goes in search of other females.

The female does not lay eggs in her hole, but deliberately digs a new hole, which is not only longer than her home, but also has a specially designated place for the nest, which expectant mother makes crafts from leaves and stems.

The female usually lays two eggs fourteen days after mating. These eggs are off-white in color, and their diameter is about 11 mm (interestingly, almost immediately the eggs stick together with the help of a special sticky substance covering them).

The incubation period lasts about ten days, during which time the mother almost never leaves the hole and lies curled up around the eggs.

The baby is released from the egg using a special egg tooth, which falls off as soon as the baby makes its way through. Small platypuses are born blind, without hair, about 2.5 cm long. The mother, lying on her back, immediately places her newborn babies on her stomach.

The animals do not have nipples at all: the female feeds the babies with milk, which comes out through the pores located on the stomach. Milk, flowing down the mother's fur, accumulates in special grooves, from where small platypuses lick it. The female leaves her cubs only to get food for herself. Leaving the hole, it clogs the entrance hole with earth.

The babies' eyes open quite late - at the end of the third month of life, and at seventeen weeks they begin to leave the hole and learn to hunt, while feeding with mother's milk ends.

Relationships with people

While in nature this animal has few enemies (sometimes it is attacked by a python, a crocodile, a bird of prey, a monitor lizard, a fox, or a accidentally swam seal), at the beginning of the last century it found itself on the verge of extinction. The hundred-year hunt did its job and destroyed almost everyone: products made from platypus fur turned out to be so popular that poachers had no mercy (about 65 skins are needed to sew one fur coat).

The situation turned out to be so critical that already at the beginning of the last century, hunting for platypuses was completely prohibited. The measures were successful: now the population is quite stable and is not in danger, and the animals themselves, being indigenous to Australia and refusing to breed on other continents, are considered a symbol of the continent and are even depicted on one of the coins.

(Ornithorhynchidae); together with the echidnas, it forms the order of monotremes (Monotremata) - mammals, in a number of characteristics close to reptiles. This unique animal is one of the symbols of Australia; it appears on the reverse of the Australian 20 cent coin.

History of the study

The platypus was discovered in the 18th century during the colonization of New South Wales. A list of the colony's animals published in 1802 mentions "an amphibious animal of the genus Mole. Its most curious quality is that it has a duck’s beak instead of a normal mouth, allowing it to feed in the mud like birds.”

The first platypus skin was sent to England in 1797. Her appearance gave rise to fierce debate among the scientific community. At first, the skin was considered the product of some taxidermist, who sewed a duck beak to the skin of an animal similar to a beaver. George Shaw managed to dispel this suspicion, who examined the parcel and came to the conclusion that it was not a fake (for this, Shaw even cut the skin in search of stitches). The question arose as to which group of animals the platypus belongs to. After it received its scientific name, the first animals were brought to England, and it turned out that the female platypus does not have visible mammary glands, but this animal, like birds, has a cloaca. For a quarter of a century, scientists could not decide where to classify the platypus - to mammals, birds, reptiles, or even to a separate class, until in 1824 the German biologist Meckel discovered that the platypus still has mammary glands and the female feeds her young with milk. It was only proven in 1884 that the platypus lays eggs.

The zoological name was given to this strange animal in 1799 by the English naturalist George Shaw - Platypus anatinus, from ancient Greek. πλατύς - wide, flat, πούς - paw and lat. anatinus- duck. In 1800, Johann-Friedrich Blumenbach, in order to avoid homonymy with the genus of bark beetles Platypus changed the generic name to Ornithorhynchus, from ancient Greek. ὄρνις - bird, ῥύγχος - beak. Aboriginal Australians knew the platypus by many names, including mallangong, boondaburra And tambreet. Early European settlers called it duckbill, duckmole, and watermole. The name currently used in English is platypus.

Appearance

The body length of the platypus is 30-40 cm, the tail is 10-15 cm, and it weighs up to 2 kg. Males are about a third larger than females. The body of the platypus is squat, short-legged; the tail is flattened, similar to the tail of a beaver, but covered with hair, which noticeably thins with age. In the tail of the platypus, like the Tasmanian devil, reserves of fat are deposited. Its fur is thick, soft, usually dark brown on the back and reddish or gray on the belly. The head is round. In front, the facial section is extended into a flat beak about 65 mm long and 50 mm wide. The beak is not hard, like that of birds, but soft, covered with elastic bare skin, which is stretched over two thin, long, arched bones. The oral cavity is expanded into cheek pouches, in which food is stored during feeding. Below, at the base of the beak, males have a specific gland that produces a secretion with a musky odor. Young platypuses have 8 teeth, but they are fragile and quickly wear out, giving way to keratinized plates.

The platypus has five-fingered feet, adapted for both swimming and digging. The swimming membrane on the front paws protrudes in front of the toes, but can bend in such a way that the claws are exposed, turning the swimming limb into a digging limb. The membranes on the hind legs are much less developed; For swimming, the platypus does not use its hind legs, like other semi-aquatic animals, but its front legs. The hind legs act as a rudder in the water, and the tail serves as a stabilizer. The gait of the platypus on land is more reminiscent of the gait of a reptile - it places its legs on the sides of the body.

Its nasal openings open on the upper side of its beak. There are no auricles. The eyes and ear openings are located in grooves on the sides of the head. When an animal dives, the edges of these grooves, like the valves of the nostrils, close, so that under water its vision, hearing, and smell are ineffective. However, the skin of the beak is rich in nerve endings, and this provides the platypus not only with a highly developed sense of touch, but also with the ability to electrolocate. The beak's electroreceptors can detect weak electrical fields, which are produced, for example, by the contraction of crustacean musculature, which aids the platypus in its search for prey. Looking for it, the platypus continuously moves its head from side to side during underwater hunting.

Organ systems

Features of the senses

The platypus is the only mammal with advanced electroreception. Electroreceptors have also been found in the echidna, but its use of electroreception is unlikely to play a role important role in search of prey.

Features of metabolism

The platypus has a remarkably low metabolism compared to other mammals; his normal body temperature is only 32 °C. However, at the same time, he is excellent at regulating body temperature. Thus, being in water at 5 °C, the platypus can maintain normal temperature body by increasing the metabolic rate by more than 3 times.

Platypus poison

The platypus is one of the few venomous mammals (along with some shrews and shrews, which have toxic saliva, as well as slow lorises - unique gender known venomous primates).

Young platypuses of both sexes have rudiments of horny spurs on their hind legs. In females they disappear by the age of one year, but in males they continue to grow, reaching 1.2-1.5 cm in length by the time of puberty. Each spur is connected by a duct to the femoral gland, which produces a complex “cocktail” of poisons during the mating season. Males use spurs during mating fights. Platypus venom can kill dingoes or other small animals. For humans, it is generally not fatal, but it causes very severe pain, and swelling develops at the injection site, which gradually spreads to the entire limb. Painful sensations (hyperalgesia) can last for many days or even months.

Lifestyle and nutrition

Reproduction

Every year, platypuses go into a 5-10 day period. hibernation, after which they begin the breeding season. It lasts from August to November. Mating occurs in water. The male bites the female’s tail, and the animals swim in a circle for some time, after which mating occurs (in addition, 4 more variants of the courtship ritual have been recorded). The male covers several females; Platypuses do not form permanent pairs.

After mating, the female digs a brood hole. Unlike a regular burrow, it is longer and ends with a nesting chamber. A nest of stems and leaves is built inside; The female wears the material with her tail pressed to her stomach. Then she seals the corridor with one or more earthen plugs 15-20 cm thick to protect the hole from predators and floods. The female makes plugs with the help of her tail, which she uses like a mason uses a trowel. The inside of the nest is always moist, which prevents the eggs from drying out. The male does not take part in building the burrow and raising the young.

2 weeks after mating, the female lays 1-3 (usually 2) eggs. Platypus eggs are similar to reptile eggs - they are round, small (11 mm in diameter) and covered with an off-white leathery shell. After laying, the eggs stick together with an adhesive substance that covers them on the outside. Incubation lasts up to 10 days; During incubation, the female rarely leaves the burrow and usually lies curled up around the eggs.

Platypus babies are born naked and blind, approximately 2.5 cm long. When hatching from the egg, they pierce the shell with an egg tooth, which falls off immediately after leaving the egg. The female, lying on her back, moves them to her belly. She does not have a brood pouch. The mother feeds the cubs with milk, which comes out through the enlarged pores on her abdomen. Milk flows down the mother's fur, accumulating in special grooves, and the cubs lick it off. The mother leaves the offspring only for a short time to feed and dry the skin; leaving, she clogs the entrance with soil. The cubs' eyes open at 11 weeks. Breastfeeding continues up to 4 months; at 17 weeks, the cubs begin to leave the hole to hunt. Young platypuses reach sexual maturity at the age of 1 year.

The lifespan of platypuses in the wild is unknown; in captivity they live an average of 10 years.

Population status and conservation

Platypuses were previously hunted for their valuable fur, but at the beginning of the 20th century, hunting them was prohibited. Currently, their population is considered relatively stable, although due to water pollution and habitat degradation, the platypus' range is becoming increasingly patchy. It was also caused some damage by the rabbits brought by the colonists, who, by digging holes, disturbed the platypuses, forcing them to leave their habitable places.

Australians have created a special system of nature reserves and “sanctuaries” where platypuses can feel safe. Among them, the most famous are Healesville Nature Reserve in Victoria and West Burleigh in Queensland. The platypus is an easily excitable, timid animal, so for a long time it was not possible to export platypuses to zoos in other countries. The platypus was first successfully exported abroad in 1922 to the New York Zoo, but it only lived there for 49 days. Attempts to breed platypuses in captivity have been successful only a few times.

Evolution of the platypus

Monotremes are the surviving members of one of the earliest mammalian lineages. The age of the oldest monotreme discovered in Australia is 110 million years ( Steropodon). It was a small, rodent-like animal that was nocturnal and, most likely, did not lay eggs, but gave birth to severely underdeveloped cubs. A fossilized tooth from another fossil platypus (Obdurodon), found in 1991 in Patagonia (Argentina), indicates that it is likely that the platypus' ancestors came to Australia from South America, when those continents formed part of the supercontinent Gondwanaland. The closest ancestors of the modern platypus appeared about 4.5 million years ago, while the earliest fossil specimen itself Ornithorhynchus anatinus dates back to the Pleistocene. Fossil platypuses resembled modern ones, but were smaller in size.

In May 2008, it was announced that the platypus genome had been deciphered.

Platypuses in culture

Platypuses are characters in several animated series, such as Phineas and Ferb and The Tasmanian Devil.

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Notes

Literature

M. L. Augee: Platypus and Echidnas. The Royal Zoological Society, New South Wales 1992. ISBN 0-9599951-6-1.
T. R. Grant: Fauna of Australia. 16. Ornithorhynchidae.
Bernhard Grzimek: Grzimeks Tierleben. Bd 10. Säugetiere 1. Droemer Knaur, München 1967, Bechtermünz, Augsburg 2000. ISBN 3-8289-1603-1.
Ann Moyal: Platypus. The Extraordinary Story of How a Curious Creature Baffled the World. Smithsonian Press, Washington DC 2001. ISBN 1-56098-977-7.
Ronald Strahan: Mammals of Australia. Smithsonian Press, Washington DC 1996. ISBN 1-56098-673-5.
Jaime Gongora, Amelia B. Swan et al.: . Journal of Zoology. Vol. 286, Iss. 2, pp. 110–119, February 2012.

Excerpt characterizing the Platypus

It was not new for him to believe that his presence at all ends of the world, from Africa to the steppes of Muscovy, equally amazes and plunges people into the madness of self-forgetfulness. He ordered a horse to be brought to him and rode to his camp.
About forty lancers drowned in the river, despite the boats sent to help. Most washed back to this shore. The colonel and several people swam across the river and with difficulty climbed out to the other bank. But as soon as they got out with their wet dress flopping around them and dripping in streams, they shouted: “Vivat!”, looking enthusiastically at the place where Napoleon stood, but where he was no longer there, and at that moment they considered themselves happy.
In the evening, Napoleon, between two orders - one about delivering the prepared counterfeit Russian banknotes for import into Russia as soon as possible, and the other about shooting the Saxon, in whose intercepted letter information about orders for the French army was found - made a third order - about the inclusion of the Polish colonel, who unnecessarily threw himself into the river, into the cohort of honor (Legion d'honneur), of which Napoleon was the head.
Qnos vult perdere – dementat. [Whoever he wants to destroy, he will deprive him of his mind (lat.)]

Meanwhile, the Russian emperor had already lived in Vilna for more than a month, making reviews and maneuvers. Nothing was ready for the war that everyone expected and for which the emperor came from St. Petersburg to prepare. General plan there was no action. Hesitation about which plan, out of all those that were proposed, should be adopted, only intensified even more after the emperor's month-long stay in the main apartment. The three armies each had a separate commander-in-chief, but there was no common commander over all the armies, and the emperor did not assume this title.
The longer the emperor lived in Vilna, the less and less they prepared for war, tired of waiting for it. All the aspirations of the people surrounding the sovereign seemed to be aimed only at making the sovereign, while having a pleasant time, forget about the upcoming war.
After many balls and holidays among the Polish magnates, among the courtiers and the sovereign himself, in June one of the Polish general adjutants of the sovereign came up with the idea of giving a dinner and ball to the sovereign on behalf of his general adjutants. This idea was joyfully accepted by everyone. The Emperor agreed. The general's adjutants collected money by subscription. The person who could be most pleasing to the sovereign was invited to be the hostess of the ball. Count Bennigsen, a landowner of the Vilna province, offered his country house for this holiday, and on June 13 a dinner, ball, boat ride and fireworks display were scheduled at Zakret, Count Bennigsen's country house.
On the very day on which Napoleon gave the order to cross the Neman and his advanced troops, pushing back the Cossacks, crossed the Russian border, Alexander spent the evening at Bennigsen’s dacha - at a ball given by the general’s adjutants.
It was a cheerful, brilliant holiday; experts in the business said that rarely so many beauties gathered in one place. Countess Bezukhova, along with other Russian ladies who came for the sovereign from St. Petersburg to Vilna, was at this ball, darkening the sophisticated Polish ladies with her heavy, so-called Russian beauty. She was noticed, and the sovereign honored her with a dance.
Boris Drubetskoy, en garcon (a bachelor), as he said, having left his wife in Moscow, was also at this ball and, although not an adjutant general, was a participant for a large sum in the subscription for the ball. Boris was now a rich man, far advanced in honor, no longer seeking patronage, but standing on an even footing with the highest of his peers.
At twelve o'clock at night they were still dancing. Helen, who did not have a worthy gentleman, herself offered the mazurka to Boris. They sat in the third pair. Boris, coolly looking at Helen's shiny bare shoulders protruding from her dark gauze and gold dress, talked about old acquaintances and at the same time, unnoticed by himself and others, never for a second stopped watching the sovereign, who was in the same room. The Emperor did not dance; he stood in the doorway and stopped first one or the other with those gentle words that he alone knew how to speak.
At the beginning of the mazurka, Boris saw that Adjutant General Balashev, one of the closest persons to the sovereign, approached him and stood un-courtly close to the sovereign, who was speaking with a Polish lady. After talking with the lady, the sovereign looked questioningly and, apparently realizing that Balashev acted this way only because there were important reasons, nodded slightly to the lady and turned to Balashev. As soon as Balashev began to speak, surprise was expressed on the sovereign’s face. He took Balashev by the arm and walked with him through the hall, unconsciously clearing three fathoms of wide road on both sides of those who stood aside in front of him. Boris noticed Arakcheev's excited face while the sovereign walked with Balashev. Arakcheev, looking from under his brows at the sovereign and snoring his red nose, moved out of the crowd, as if expecting that the sovereign would turn to him. (Boris realized that Arakcheev was jealous of Balashev and was dissatisfied that some obviously important news was not conveyed to the sovereign through him.)
But the sovereign and Balashev walked, without noticing Arakcheev, through the exit door into the illuminated garden. Arakcheev, holding his sword and looking around angrily, walked about twenty paces behind them.
While Boris continued to make mazurka figures, he was constantly tormented by the thought of what news Balashev had brought and how to find out about it before others.
In the figure where he had to choose ladies, whispering to Helen that he wanted to take Countess Pototskaya, who seemed to have gone out onto the balcony, he, sliding his feet along the parquet floor, ran out the exit door into the garden and, noticing the sovereign entering the terrace with Balashev , paused. The Emperor and Balashev headed towards the door. Boris, in a hurry, as if not having time to move away, respectfully pressed himself against the lintel and bowed his head.
With the emotion of a personally insulted man, the Emperor finished the following words:
- Enter Russia without declaring war. “I will make peace only when not a single armed enemy remains on my land,” he said. It seemed to Boris that the sovereign was pleased to express these words: he was pleased with the form of expression of his thoughts, but was dissatisfied with the fact that Boris heard them.
- So that no one knows anything! – the sovereign added, frowning. Boris realized that this applied to him, and, closing his eyes, bowed his head slightly. The Emperor again entered the hall and remained at the ball for about half an hour.
Boris was the first to learn the news about the crossing of the Neman by French troops and thanks to this he had the opportunity to show some important persons that he knew many things hidden from others, and through this he had the opportunity to rise higher in the opinion of these persons.

The unexpected news about the French crossing the Neman was especially unexpected after a month of unfulfilled anticipation, and at a ball! The Emperor, at the first minute of receiving the news, under the influence of indignation and insult, found what later became famous, a saying that he himself liked and fully expressed his feelings. Returning home from the ball, the sovereign at two o'clock in the morning sent for secretary Shishkov and ordered to write an order to the troops and a rescript to Field Marshal Prince Saltykov, in which he certainly demanded that the words be placed that he would not make peace until at least one the armed Frenchman will remain on Russian soil.
The next day it was written next letter to Napoleon.
“Monsieur mon frere. J"ai appris hier que malgre la loyaute avec laquelle j"ai maintenu mes engagements envers Votre Majeste, ses troupes ont franchis les frontieres de la Russie, et je recois a l"instant de Petersbourg une note par laquelle le comte Lauriston, pour cause de cette aggression, annonce que Votre Majeste s"est consideree comme en etat de guerre avec moi des le moment ou le prince Kourakine a fait la demande de ses passeports. Les motifs sur lesquels le duc de Bassano fondait son refus de les lui delivrer, n "auraient jamais pu me faire supposer que cette demarche servirait jamais de pretexte a l" aggression. En effet cet ambassadeur n"y a jamais ete autorise comme il l"a declare lui meme, et aussitot que j"en fus informe, je lui ai fait connaitre combien je le desapprouvais en lui donnant l"ordre de rester a son poste. Si Votre Majeste n"est pas intentionnee de verser le sang de nos peuples pour un malentendu de ce genre et qu"elle consente a retirer ses troupes du territoire russe, je regarderai ce qui s"est passe comme non avenu, et un accommodement entre nous sera possible. Dans le cas contraire, Votre Majeste, je me verrai force de repousser une attaque que rien n"a provoquee de ma part. Il depend encore de Votre Majeste d"eviter a l"humanite les calamites d"une nouvelle guerre.
Je suis, etc.
(signe) Alexandre.”
[“My lord brother! Yesterday it dawned on me that, despite the straightforwardness with which I observed my obligations towards Your Imperial Majesty, your troops crossed the Russian borders, and only now have I received a note from St. Petersburg, with which Count Lauriston informs me regarding this invasion, that Your Majesty considers yourself to be on hostile terms with me from the time Prince Kurakin demanded his passports. The reasons on which the Duke of Bassano based his refusal to issue these passports could never have led me to suppose that the act of my ambassador served as a reason for the attack. And in fact, he did not have a command from me to do this, as he himself announced; and as soon as I learned about this, I immediately expressed my displeasure to Prince Kurakin, ordering him to carry out the duties entrusted to him as before. If Your Majesty is not inclined to shed the blood of our subjects because of such a misunderstanding and if you agree to withdraw your troops from Russian possessions, then I will ignore everything that happened, and an agreement between us will be possible. Otherwise, I will be forced to repel an attack that was not provoked by anything on my part. Your Majesty, you still have the opportunity to save humanity from the scourge of a new war.
(signed) Alexander.” ]

On June 13, at two o'clock in the morning, the sovereign, calling Balashev to him and reading him his letter to Napoleon, ordered him to take this letter and personally hand it over to the French emperor. Sending Balashev away, the sovereign again repeated to him the words that he would not make peace until at least one armed enemy remained on Russian soil, and ordered that these words be conveyed to Napoleon without fail. The Emperor did not write these words in the letter, because he felt with his tact that these words were inconvenient to convey at the moment when the last attempt at reconciliation was being made; but he certainly ordered Balashev to hand them over to Napoleon personally.
Having left on the night of June 13th to 14th, Balashev, accompanied by a trumpeter and two Cossacks, arrived at dawn in the village of Rykonty, at the French outposts on this side of the Neman. He was stopped by French cavalry sentries.
A French hussar non-commissioned officer, in a crimson uniform and a shaggy hat, shouted at Balashev as he approached, ordering him to stop. Balashev did not stop immediately, but continued to walk along the road.
The non-commissioned officer, frowning and muttering some kind of curse, advanced with the chest of his horse towards Balashev, took up his saber and rudely shouted at the Russian general, asking him: is he deaf, that he does not hear what is being said to him. Balashev identified himself. The non-commissioned officer sent the soldier to the officer.
Not paying attention to Balashev, the non-commissioned officer began to talk with his comrades about his regimental business and did not look at the Russian general.
It was unusually strange for Balashev, after being close to supreme authority and the power, after a conversation three hours ago with the sovereign and generally accustomed to honors due to its service, to see here, on Russian soil, this hostile and, most importantly, disrespectful attitude towards itself by brute force.
The sun was just beginning to rise from behind the clouds; the air was fresh and dewy. On the way, the herd was driven out of the village. In the fields, one by one, like bubbles in water, the larks burst into life with a hooting sound.
Balashev looked around him, waiting for the arrival of an officer from the village. The Russian Cossacks, the trumpeter, and the French hussars silently looked at each other from time to time.
A French hussar colonel, apparently just out of bed, rode out of the village on a beautiful, well-fed gray horse, accompanied by two hussars. The officer, the soldiers and their horses wore an air of contentment and panache.
This was the first time of the campaign, when the troops were still in good order, almost equal to the inspection, peaceful activity, only with a touch of smart belligerence in clothing and with a moral connotation of that fun and enterprise that always accompany the beginning of campaigns.
The French colonel had difficulty holding back a yawn, but was polite and, apparently, understood the full significance of Balashev. He led him past his soldiers by the chain and said that his desire to be presented to the emperor would probably be fulfilled immediately, since the imperial apartment, as far as he knew, was not far away.
They drove through the village of Rykonty, past French hussar hitching posts, sentries and soldiers saluting their colonel and curiously examining the Russian uniform, and drove out to the other side of the village. According to the colonel, the division chief was two kilometers away, who would receive Balashev and see him off to his destination.
The sun had already risen and shone cheerfully on the bright greenery.
They had just left the tavern on the mountain when a group of horsemen appeared from under the mountain to meet them, in front of which, on a black horse with harness shining in the sun, rode a tall man in a hat with feathers and black hair curled to the shoulders, in a red robe and with with long legs stuck out forward, like the French ride. This man galloped towards Balashev, his feathers, stones and gold braid shining and fluttering in the bright June sun.
Balashev was already two horses away from the horseman galloping towards him with a solemnly theatrical face in bracelets, feathers, necklaces and gold, when Yulner, the French colonel, respectfully whispered: “Le roi de Naples.” [King of Naples.] Indeed, it was Murat, now called the King of Naples. Although it was completely incomprehensible why he was the Neapolitan king, he was called that, and he himself was convinced of this and therefore had a more solemn and important appearance than before. He was so sure that he was really the Neapolitan king that, on the eve of his departure from Naples, while he was walking with his wife through the streets of Naples, several Italians shouted to him: “Viva il re!” [Long live the king! (Italian) ] he turned to his wife with a sad smile and said: “Les malheureux, ils ne savent pas que je les quitte demain! [Unhappy people, they don’t know that I’m leaving them tomorrow!]
But despite the fact that he firmly believed that he was the Neapolitan king, and that he regretted the sorrow of his subjects leaving him, in Lately, after he was ordered to enter the service again, and especially after a meeting with Napoleon in Danzig, when the august brother-in-law told him: “Je vous ai fait Roi pour regner a maniere, mais pas a la votre,” [I have made you king in order to reign not in his own way, but in mine.] - he cheerfully set about a task familiar to him and, like a well-fed, but not fat, horse fit for service, feeling himself in the harness, began to play in the shafts and, having discharged himself as colorfully as possible and dearer, cheerful and contented, he galloped, not knowing where or why, along the roads of Poland.
Seeing the Russian general, he royally and solemnly threw back his head with shoulder-length curled hair and looked questioningly at the French colonel. The Colonel respectfully conveyed to His Majesty the significance of Balashev, whose surname he could not pronounce.
- De Bal macheve! - said the king (with his decisiveness overcoming the difficulty presented to the colonel), - charme de faire votre connaissance, general, [it’s very nice to meet you, general] - he added with a royally gracious gesture. As soon as the king began to speak loudly and quickly, all royal dignity instantly left him, and he, without noticing it, switched to his characteristic tone of good-natured familiarity. He put his hand on the withers of Balashev's horse.

The platypus, which lives in Australia, can easily be called one of the most amazing animals on our planet. When the first platypus skin first came to England (this happened in 1797), at first everyone decided that some joker had sewn a duck's beak to the skin of an animal similar to a beaver. When it turned out that the skin was not a fake, scientists could not decide to which group of animals to classify this creature. The zoological name for this strange animal was given in 1799 by the English naturalist George Shaw - Ornithorhynchus (from the Greek ορνιθορυγχος, “bird’s nose”, and anatinus, “duck”); the tracing paper took root in the Russian language from the first scientific name- "platypus", but in modern English language the name platypus is used - “flat-footed” (from the Greek platus - “flat” and pous - “paw”).
When the first animals were brought to England, it turned out that the female platypus does not have visible mammary glands, but this animal, like birds, has a cloaca. For a quarter of a century, scientists could not decide where to classify the platypus - to mammals, birds, reptiles, or even to a separate class, until in 1824 the German biologist Johann Friedrich Meckel discovered that the platypus still has mammary glands and the female feeds the cubs with milk. It became clear that the platypus is a mammal. It was only proven in 1884 that the platypus lays eggs.

The platypus, together with the echidna (another Australian mammal), form the order Monotremata. The name of the order is due to the fact that the intestines and urogenital sinus flow into the cloaca (similarly in amphibians, reptiles and birds), and do not exit through separate passages.
In 2008, the platypus genome was deciphered and it turned out that the ancestors of modern platypuses separated from other mammals 166 million years ago. An extinct species of platypus (Obdurodon insignis) lived in Australia more than 5 million years ago. Modern look The platypus (Obdurodon insignis) appeared in the Pleistocene era.

Stuffed platypus and its skeleton

The body length of the platypus is up to 45 cm, the tail is up to 15 cm, and it weighs up to 2 kg. Males are about a third larger than females. The body of the platypus is squat, short-legged; the tail is flattened, similar to the tail of a beaver, but covered with hair, which noticeably thins with age. Fat reserves are deposited in the tail of the platypus. Its fur is thick, soft, usually dark brown on the back and reddish or gray on the belly. The head is round. In front, the facial section is extended into a flat beak about 65 mm long and 50 mm wide. The beak is not hard like that of birds, but soft, covered with elastic bare skin, which is stretched over two thin, long, arched bones. The oral cavity is expanded into cheek pouches, in which food is stored during feeding (various crustaceans, worms, snails, frogs, insects and small fish). Down at the base of the beak, males have a specific gland that produces a secretion with a musky odor. Young platypuses have 8 teeth, but they are fragile and quickly wear out, giving way to keratinized plates.

Its nasal openings open on the upper side of its beak. There are no auricles. The eyes and ear openings are located in grooves on the sides of the head. When an animal dives, the edges of these grooves, like the valves of the nostrils, close, so that under water its vision, hearing, and smell are ineffective. However, the skin of the beak is rich in nerve endings, and this provides the platypus not only with a highly developed sense of touch, but also with the ability to electrolocate. Electroreceptors in the beak can detect weak electrical fields, which arise, for example, when the muscles of crustaceans contract, which helps the platypus in searching for prey. Looking for it, the platypus continuously moves its head from side to side during underwater hunting. The platypus is the only mammal with developed electroreception.

The platypus has a remarkably low metabolism compared to other mammals; his normal body temperature is only 32 °C. However, at the same time, he is excellent at regulating body temperature. Thus, being in water at 5 °C, the platypus can maintain normal body temperature for several hours by increasing its metabolic rate by more than 3 times.

The platypus is one of the few venomous mammals (along with some shrews and sawtooths, which have toxic saliva).
Young platypuses of both sexes have the rudiments of horny spurs on their hind legs. In females, by the age of one year they fall off, but in males they continue to grow, reaching 1.2-1.5 cm in length by the time of puberty. Each spur is connected by a duct to the femoral gland, which produces a complex “cocktail” of poisons during the mating season. Males use spurs during mating fights. Platypus venom can kill dingoes or other small animals. For humans, it is generally not fatal, but it causes very severe pain, and swelling develops at the injection site, which gradually spreads to the entire limb. Painful sensations (hyperalgesia) can last for many days or even months.

The platypus is a secretive, nocturnal, semi-aquatic animal that inhabits the banks of small rivers and standing reservoirs in Eastern Australia and the island of Tasmania. The reason for the disappearance of the platypus in South Australia appears to be water pollution, to which the platypus is very sensitive. It prefers a water temperature of 25-29.9 °C; V brackish water does not occur.

The platypus lives along the banks of reservoirs. Its shelter is a short straight hole (up to 10 m long), with two entrances and an internal chamber. One entrance is underwater, the other is located 1.2-3.6 m above the water level, under tree roots or in thickets.

The platypus is an excellent swimmer and diver, remaining underwater for up to 5 minutes. He spends up to 10 hours a day in water, since he needs to eat up to a quarter of his own weight in food per day. The platypus is active at night and at dusk. It feeds on small aquatic animals, stirring up the silt at the bottom of the reservoir with its beak and catching living creatures that have risen. They observed how the platypus, while feeding, turns over stones with its claws or with the help of its beak. It eats crustaceans, worms, insect larvae; less often tadpoles, mollusks and aquatic vegetation. Having collected food in its cheek pouches, the platypus rises to the surface and, lying on the water, grinds it with its horny jaws.

In nature, the platypus' enemies are few in number. Occasionally, he is attacked by a monitor lizard, a python, and a leopard seal swimming into the rivers.

Every year, platypuses enter a 5-10-day winter hibernation, after which they enter the breeding season. It lasts from August to November. Mating occurs in water. Platypuses do not form permanent pairs.
After mating, the female digs a brood hole. Unlike a regular burrow, it is longer and ends with a nesting chamber. A nest of stems and leaves is built inside; The female wears the material with her tail pressed to her stomach. Then she seals the corridor with one or more earthen plugs 15-20 cm thick to protect the hole from predators and floods. The female makes plugs with the help of her tail, which she uses like a mason’s spatula. The inside of the nest is always moist, which prevents the eggs from drying out. The male does not take part in building the burrow and raising the young.

2 weeks after mating, the female lays 1-3 (usually 2) eggs. Incubation lasts up to 10 days. During incubation, the female lies bent in a special way and holds the eggs on her body.

Platypus cubs are born naked and blind, approximately 2.5 cm long. The female, lying on her back, moves them to her belly. She does not have a brood pouch. The mother feeds the cubs with milk, which comes out through the enlarged pores on her stomach. Milk flows down the mother's fur, accumulating in special grooves, and the cubs lick it off. The mother leaves the offspring only for a short time to feed and dry the skin; leaving, she clogs the entrance with soil. The cubs' eyes open at 11 weeks. Milk feeding lasts up to 4 months; at 17 weeks, the cubs begin to leave the hole to hunt. Young platypuses reach sexual maturity at the age of 1 year.

Decoding the platypus genome showed that the platypus immune system contains a whole developed family of genes responsible for the production of antimicrobial protein molecules cathelicidin. Primates and vertebrates have only one copy of the cathelicidin gene in their genome. It is likely that the development of this antimicrobial genetic apparatus was necessary to enhance the immune defense of barely hatched platypus pups, which undergo the first, rather lengthy stages of their maturation in brood burrows. The young of other mammals go through these stages of their development while still in the sterile womb. Being more mature immediately after birth, they are more resistant to the action of pathogenic microorganisms and do not require increased immune protection.

The lifespan of platypuses in the wild is unknown, but one platypus lived in a zoo for 17 years.

Platypuses were previously hunted for their valuable fur, but at the beginning of the 20th century. hunting them was prohibited. Currently, their population is considered relatively stable, although due to water pollution and habitat degradation, the platypus' range is becoming increasingly patchy. It was also caused some damage by the rabbits brought by the colonists, who, by digging holes, disturbed the platypuses, forcing them to leave their habitable places.
The platypus is an easily excitable, nervous animal. The sound of a voice, footsteps, or some unusual noise or vibration is enough to throw the platypus out of balance for many days, or even weeks. Therefore, for a long time it was not possible to transport platypuses to zoos in other countries. The platypus was first successfully exported abroad in 1922 to the New York Zoo, but it only lived there for 49 days. Attempts to breed platypuses in captivity have been successful only a few times.

The platypus is an amazing animal that lives only in Australia, on the island of Tasmania. This strange miracle belongs to mammals, but, unlike other animals, it lays eggs like common bird. Platypuses belong to oviparous mammals - rare species animals that survive only on the Australian continent.

History of discovery

Strange creatures boast an unusual history of their discovery. The first description of the platypus was given by Australian pioneers in the early 18th century. For a long time, science did not recognize the existence of platypuses and considered the mention of them to be an inept joke by Australian residents. Finally, at the end of the 18th century, scientists at a British university received a parcel from Australia containing the fur of an unknown animal, similar to a beaver, with paws like an otter, and a nose like an ordinary domestic duck. Such a beak looked so ridiculous that scientists even shaved the hair on the face, believing that Australian jokers had sewn a duck nose to the skin of a beaver. Finding no seams or traces of glue, the pundits simply shrugged their shoulders. No one could understand where the platypus lived or how it reproduced. Only a few years later, in 1799, the British naturalist J. Shaw proved the existence of this miracle and brought the first detailed description a creature that was later given the name "platypus". Photos of the bird beast can only be taken in Australia, because this is the only continent on which these exotic animals currently live.

Origin

The appearance of platypuses dates back to those distant times when modern continents did not exist. All land was united into one huge continent - Gondwana. It was then, 110 million years ago, that platypuses appeared in terrestrial ecosystems, taking the place of recently extinct dinosaurs. Migrating, platypuses settled throughout the continent, and after the collapse of Gondwana, they remained to live on a large area of the ex-continent, which was later named Australia. Due to the isolated location of their homeland, the animals have retained their original appearance even after millions of years. Various species of platypuses once inhabited the vast expanses of the entire land, but only one species of these animals has survived to this day.

Classification

For a quarter of a century, the leading minds of Europe puzzled over how to classify the overseas beast. Particularly difficult was the fact that the creature had a lot of characteristics that are found in birds, animals, and amphibians.

The platypus stores all its fat reserves in the tail, and not under the fur on the body. Therefore, the tail of the animal is solid, heavy, and is capable of not only stabilizing the movement of the platypus in the water, but also serves as an excellent means of defense. The weight of the animal fluctuates around one and a half to two kilograms with a length of half a meter. Compare with a domestic cat, which, with the same dimensions, weighs much more. Animals do not have nipples, although they produce milk. The temperature of the bird beast is low, barely reaching 32 degrees Celsius. This is much lower than that of mammals. Among other things, platypuses have one more literally amazing feature. These animals can infect with poison, which makes them quite dangerous opponents. Like almost all reptiles, the platypus lays eggs. What makes platypuses similar to snakes and lizards is their ability to produce poison and the arrangement of their limbs, like those of amphibians. The gait of the platypus is amazing. It moves by bending its body like a reptile. After all, its paws do not grow from below the body, like those of birds or animals. The limbs of this either a bird or an animal are located on the sides of the body, like those of lizards, crocodiles or monitor lizards. High on the animal's head are the eyes and ear openings. They can be found in depressions located on each side of the head. There are no auricles; when diving, it covers its eyes and ears with a special fold of skin.

Mating games

Every year, platypuses hibernate, which lasts 5-10 short periods. winter days. After this comes the mating period. Scientists have recently discovered how the platypus reproduces. It turns out, like all the main events in the life of these animals, the courtship process takes place in water. The male bites the tail of the female he likes, after which the animals circle each other in the water for some time. They do not have permanent pairs; platypus children remain only with the female, who herself raises and raises them.

Waiting for the Cubs

A month after mating, the platypus digs a long, deep hole, filling it with armfuls of wet leaves and brushwood. The female carries everything she needs, wrapping her paws around her and tucking her flat tail under. When the shelter is ready, the expectant mother lies down in the nest and covers the entrance to the hole with earth. The platypus lays its eggs in this nesting chamber. The clutch usually contains two, rarely three, small whitish eggs, which are glued together with a sticky substance. The female incubates the eggs for 10-14 days. The animal spends this time curled up in a ball on the masonry, hidden by wet leaves. At the same time, the female platypus can occasionally leave the hole in order to have a snack, clean itself and wet its fur.

Birth of platypuses

After two weeks of residence, a small platypus appears in the clutch. The baby breaks the eggs with an egg tooth. Once the baby emerges from the shell, this tooth falls off. After birth, the female platypus moves the young onto her abdomen. The platypus is a mammal, so the female feeds its young with milk. Platypuses do not have nipples; milk from the enlarged pores on the mother’s belly flows down the fur into special grooves, from where the young lick it off. The mother occasionally goes outside to hunt and clean herself, while the entrance to the hole is blocked with earth.
Up to eight weeks, the cubs need the warmth of their mother and can freeze if left unattended for a long time.

At the eleventh week, the eyes of small platypuses open; after four months, the babies grow up to 33 cm in length, grow hair and completely switch to adult food. A little later they leave the hole and begin to lead an adult lifestyle. At the age of one year, the platypus becomes a sexually mature adult.

Platypuses in history

Before the first European settlers appeared on the shores of Australia, platypuses had virtually no external enemies. But their amazing and valuable fur made them an object of hunting for white people. The skins of platypuses, black-brown on the outside and gray on the inside, were at one time used to make fur coats and hats for European fashionistas. Yes and local residents they did not hesitate to shoot a platypus for their own needs. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the decline in the number of these animals acquired alarming proportions. Naturalists sounded the alarm, and the platypus joined the ranks. Australia began to create special reserves for amazing animals. The animals were taken under state protection. The problem was complicated by the fact that the places where the platypus lives must be protected from human presence, since this animal is shy and sensitive. In addition, the massive spread of rabbits on this continent deprived platypuses of their usual nesting places - their holes were occupied by long-eared aliens. Therefore, the government had to allocate huge areas, fenced off from outside interference, in order to preserve and increase the platypus population. Such reserves played a decisive role in preserving the numbers of these animals.

Platypuses in captivity

Attempts have been made to introduce this animal into zoos. In 1922, the first platypus arrived at the New York Zoo and lived in captivity for only 49 days. Due to their desire for silence and increased timidity, the animals never mastered zoos; in captivity, the platypus lays eggs reluctantly, and only a few offspring were obtained. There are no recorded cases of human domestication of these exotic animals. Platypuses were and remain wild and distinctive Australian aborigines.

Platypuses today

Now platypuses are not considered. Tourists enjoy visiting places where the platypus lives. Travelers willingly publish photos of this animal in their stories about Australian tours. Images of bird animals serve hallmark many Australian products and manufacturers. Along with the kangaroo, the platypus has become a symbol of the Australian continent.

The platypus belongs to the order of mammals. Its close relative is the echidna; together with it they form the order Monotremes. only on one continent - Australia.

The zoological European world first started talking about platypuses only in 1797. And immediately after the discovery of the animal, disputes began to rage as to who it was, a bird, a reptile or a mammal? The answer to the question was given by the German biologist Meckel, who discovered mammary glands in a female platypus. After this discovery, platypuses were classified as mammals.

What does a platypus look like?

Platypus animal small sizes, in length it reaches 30-40 centimeters. Its tail is flat, similar to a beaver's tail, only covered with hair, 10-15 cm long. The platypus's head is round, and on its muzzle there is a flat beak up to 6.5 cm long and 5 cm wide. Fat is deposited in the back of the tail. The structure of the platypus's beak is very different from that of birds. The beak of the platypus consists of two long arched bones covered with elastic and soft skin. In the oral cavity there are cheek pouches into which the platypus collects prey.

The platypus' feet are equipped with five fingers, between which there are swimming membranes. In addition, the animal has claws on its fingers intended for digging the ground. The membranes on the hind legs of the platypus are poorly developed, so main role When swimming, the forelimbs act out. When the animal moves on land, its gait is similar to that of a reptile.

Platypus breeding

Before the start of the mating season, all platypuses go into hibernation for 5-10 days. Having woken up, the animals actively get down to business. Before mating begins, each male courts the female by biting her tail. The mating season lasts from August to November.

After mating, the female begins to build a brood burrow. It differs from the usual one in being long and at the end of the hole there is a nesting chamber. The female also equips the brood hole inside, placing various leaves and stems in the nesting chamber. Upon completion of construction work, the female closes the corridors to the nesting chamber with plugs from the ground. Thus, the female protects the shelter from floods or attacks by predators. The female then lays eggs. More often it is 1 or 2 eggs, less often 3. Platypus eggs are more like reptile eggs than birds. They are round in shape and covered with a leathery grayish-white shell. Having laid the eggs, the female remains in the hole almost all the time, warming them until the babies hatch.

Platypus cubs appear on the 10th day after laying. Babies are born blind and completely without hair up to 2.5 cm in length. To be born, babies break through the shell with a special egg tooth, which falls out immediately after birth. The mother moves the newly hatched cubs onto her stomach and feeds them with milk protruding from the pores on the stomach. The new mother does not leave her babies for a long time, but only for a few hours to hunt and dry the fur.

At the 11th week of life, babies are completely covered with hair and begin to see. The cubs hunt independently as early as 4 months. Full independent life Young platypuses live without a mother after the 1st year of life.

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