Platypus (presentation, project work). Order monotremes Platypus animal in English presentation
Platypuses animals of Australia All about platypuses
IS THE PLATTYPLUS ANIMAL OR BIRD?
For a long time, scientists argued about who the platypus was. Either a bird or an animal. The platypus animal combines the qualities of both.
Beast? After all, it feeds its cubs with milk and has short fur of a brownish-brown color.
Bird? He has a wide beak, like a duck, a cloaca, like all birds, for which he was classified, like an echidna, among monotremes.
Or maybe a reptile or fish? He is an excellent swimmer and his body temperature is low, maybe only 25 degrees. And when walking, he places his paws, like them, on the sides of his body. Some kind of unknown fairy-tale animal. In the end, this unique animal, living only in Australia, was classified as a mammal and called the platypus.
That's what I am!
Appearance Features
Platypuses have a slightly elongated, round body. It ends in a wide and flat tail, like a beaver's. Both the tail and the membranes stretched between the toes of the short paws help it swim. The eyes are quite small. The ears are simple holes. Hearing and vision are poor, but the sense of smell is excellent.
The unusual beak of the platypus has almost nothing in common with the beak of birds. He has the usual jaws of an animal, no teeth. But on the edges of the beak there are such sensitive receptors that they, like sharks, can detect weak electrical vibrations from moving prey. Females are smaller in size, up to 45 cm long, weighing slightly more than 1 kg. Males can weigh up to 2 kg, and their body is elongated up to 60 cm. Females do not give birth to cubs; they, like reptiles, lay eggs. Only they are covered not with a shell, but with a dense cornea. As such, there are no mammary glands. Milk simply flows from special ducts into the fold on the abdomen.
But that's it amazing features the platypuses are not running out.
Males defend themselves from enemies with spurs located on their hind legs. They are approximately 2 cm long, and they are not only sharp, but also contain strong poison.
Poisonous spur of a platypus Lifestyle of platypuses
The entire life of platypuses passes near small, calm rivers with low banks. It is on the shore that they dig a den for themselves, where they live permanently.
These animals lead night look life, during the day they sleep in a hole. They may go into a short period, for 10 days, hibernation before mating season. The purpose of hibernation is most likely to accumulate strength for reproduction.
Platypuses are very careful and rarely show themselves to humans, hiding in burrows.
They go out in search of food early in the morning or closer to night. Basically, they look for food at the bottom of the reservoir, shoveling a mass of silt deposits with their beaks. They capture worms, mollusks, tadpoles, and any crustaceans, but do not eat them right away. They store all living creatures by the cheeks, and then grind them on land with their jaws. The ability to electrolocate helps them not to grab inedible objects.
They live alone and do not form pairs.
The female's tail plays important role. She uses it to carry soft grass for bedding in the hole, and uses it to cover the entrance to the hole with earth. This way she ensures her safety for 2 weeks while she incubates the eggs.
There are few eggs, one or two. After 7 days, the cubs hatch, also small, about 2 cm. They are completely helpless and blind. It is not clear why, but they are born with teeth that fall out after milk feeding ends.
Little platypuses remain blind for as long as 11 weeks. And they stay in the hole for 4 months. The mother feeds them with milk, only occasionally leaving the hole for food. During this period, she is unusually gluttonous and can eat as much as she weighs. In nature they live for about 10 years. The main enemies are wild dogs dingoes, monitor lizards and pythons. The platypus protects itself from them with its poisonous spur.
For people who hunted platypuses for their skin, the poison is not fatal, but the sting from the spur causes severe pain.
Due to the disturbed ecology, these amazing animals began to disappear, so they are specially bred in nature reserves and zoos.
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Platypus (lat. Ornithorhynchus anatinus)- This oviparous mammal, one of those rare animals that make up the unique fauna of Australia.
Its body length is about 30 cm, including the tail - up to 55 cm, the weight of an adult is about 2 kg. As with many other animal species, male platypus are noticeably larger than females. Squat, with a large tail, somewhat similar to a beaver, it received its eloquent name due to its soft beak covered with elastic skin.
Its five-toed paws are perfect for both swimming in warm Australian waters and digging. For swimming, it mainly uses its front paws, which are equipped with characteristic membranes.
Platypus is a nocturnal animal, and enough most he spends his life in water. Its habitat is the shores of lakes and small rivers in eastern Australia. Every year before the mating season (August-November), they fall into a short hibernation for 5-10 days. They mate in water after a fairly lengthy courtship ritual. Males are polygamous.
The average lifespan of a platypus in captivity is about 10 years; its lifespan in the wild is still unknown. Some time ago, they were widely hunted for their unique fur, but at the beginning of the last century, the Australian government issued a decree banning hunting for them.
Today this species is no longer threatened with extinction, but pollution natural environment habitats and the gradual industrialization of sparsely populated areas of Australia is doing its job: platypuses are gradually becoming fewer and fewer.
In Australia, there are special reserves specially equipped for their safe residence. The most famous among them are Hillsville and West Burley.
It is known that only males have poisonous spurs on their hind legs. The poison contained in these spurs can cause severe painful sensations a person and kill a medium-sized animal, such as a dog.
The main characteristic of mammals, which includes the platypus, is the presence of mammary glands in animals, with the help of which they feed their offspring with milk. Platypuses do not have nipples, but they have glandular areas of skin that are capable of secreting milk through the pores (milk contains a high content of fat, sugar and protein).
The female “brings” two or three eggs, rich in yolk, leathery, with a soft shell. She lays her eggs deep in her burrow, and after 10 days the young hatch and feed on milk through the female's modified sweat glands. As mentioned above, the female does not have nipples, so it flows down the fur, from where the cubs lick it off.
It turns out that the platypus is also unique in that it has as many as 10 sex chromosomes, while other animals have only two. For example, it is known that a person’s gender is determined by a combination of chromosomes X and Y. If XX, then the result is a girl, if XY is a boy. Sex is determined in almost the same way in birds, only the chromosomes are called differently Z and W. But in platypuses, a male is born with the combination XYXYXYXYXY, and a female is born with XXXXXXXXXX. For the entire animal world, this is simply unique.
By its beak it can be said that it is a relative of a duck, by its hair it is closer to a bear, by its tail it can be attributed to a beaver, and its webbed feet are more reminiscent of those of an otter.
And until now, evolutionists have not found an explanation for the origin of platypuses; one thing is clear - this is an animal creation of hands not from this world.
General information The platypus is a waterfowl mammal of the order Monotreme, living in Australia. This is the only modern representative of the platypus family, together with echidnas it forms the order of monotremes. This unique animal is one of the symbols of Australia.
The body length of the platypus is 30-40 cm, the tail is 10-15 cm, 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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 species of the family of mammals of the same name in the order Monotremes. The body length of the platypus is 3040 cm, the tail is 1015 cm, 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 Taman 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.
The platypus feeds on small aquatic animals. It stirs up the silt at the bottom of the reservoir with its beak and catches insects, crustaceans, worms and mollusks. Underwater he feels free, if, of course, there is an opportunity to catch his breath on the surface from time to time. Diving and rummaging in the mud, he is guided mainly by touch; His ears and eyes are protected by fur. On land, the platypus, in addition to touch, is guided by sight and hearing.
Platypus burrows are located outside the water, including the entrance, located somewhere under an overhanging shore at a height of 1.23.6 m above water level. Only an exceptionally high flood can flood the entrance to such a hole. An ordinary hole is a semicircular cave dug under the roots of trees, with two or more entrances. Every year, the platypus enters a short winter hibernation, after which it begins the breeding season. Males and females meet in the water. The male grabs the female's tail with his beak, and both animals swim in a circle for some time, after which mating occurs.
Looking at its beak, you might think that it is a relative of the duck; by his tail one could classify him as a beaver; his hair is similar to that of a bear; its webbed feet resemble those of an otter; and its claws resemble those of reptiles. Who is this unusual beast? PLATYPUS
At first glance, the platypus resembles a beaver or otter. It has fins on its front legs, like an otter, but these fins are made of rough skin that extends beyond the edges of the fingers and is immediately retracted at the fingers themselves so that the platypus can burrow into the ground with its claws.
The platypus eats crustaceans, worms, and insect larvae; less often tadpoles, mollusks and aquatic vegetation, stirring up the silt at the bottom of the reservoir with its beak and catching the rising living creatures. Having collected food in its cheek pouches, the platypus rises to the surface and, lying on the water, grinds it with its horny jaws.
For swimming, the platypus uses its front legs rather than its hind legs. The hind legs act as a rudder in the water, and the tail serves as a stabilizer. The tail also serves the platypus for storing fat reserves, and the female also uses it to cover the entrance to the hole, like a trowel, when she is about to lay eggs.
Internet resources /2/HOLY_MUDKIPS_by_AngelicNekoMeg umi.jpghttp://fc00.deviantart.net/fs42/f/2009/095/8 /2/HOLY_MUDKIPS_by_AngelicNekoMeg umi.jpg utkonos.htmlhttp://funzoo.ru/amazing/261-dikovinnyjj- utkonos.html
