The Platypus feeds on aquatic insect larvae, shrimps and worms by dabbling in mud or silt on the bottom of rivers and freshwater lakes with its sensitive, flexible, duck-like snout, aided by an electronic sense.
Its eyes are shut while it is under water and, being buoyant, it must continuously swim downwards with its webbed forefeet to remain submerged. The hindfeet are also webbed but are employed in steering or braking - not in propulsion. It usually feeds at night, with peaks of activity for several hours after dusk and before dawn.
During the day, it rests in a burrow in the bank of a river or lake, but it may spend some hours near the entrance to the burrow, basking in the sun and grooming its dense fur.
The male has a sharp, hollow, horny spur on the inside of the ankle. This is connected to a venom gland which produces a very strong toxin. The spur can be used in defence against predators but the fact that it is restricted to the male - and that the gland reaches its greatest development in the mating season - suggests that it is normally employed in aggressive encounters between males.
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\B\PSubclass:\p\b Prototheria
\B\POrder:\p\b Monotremata
\B\PFamily:\p\b Ornithorhynchidae
\B\PGenus:\p\b\I Ornithorhynchyus
\i\B\PClimate:\p\b Cool temperate to Warm temperate
\B\PHabitat:\p\b Edges of rivers and freshwater lakes where burrows can be dug
\B\PHead and body:\p\b 30-42cm
\B\PTail:\p\b 10-13cm
\B\PDistribution:\p\b 300,000-1 million square kilometres
The Short-beaked Echidna (usually referred to in Australia simply as the Echidna) spends most of the day sleeping in the shelter of fallen timber or rocks. It is able to sink itself below the surface of the soil without moving forwards or backwards and offers very great resistance to dislodgement once it has wedged itself under cover.
Depending upon the temperature and the availability of food, it feeds for varying lengths of time between dusk and dawn on ants or termites, breaching their nests with its forefeet and licking up the insects with its sticky tongue.
The male has a spur on its ankle, similar to that of a Platypus, but it is not hollow and is not connected to a venom gland.
The \Pspecies\p occurs over most of Australia, including Tasmania, and in the lowlands of New Guinea. It varies considerably in appearance: animals from the cooler part of the range have hair almost as long as the spines; in those from the hotter, drier parts, the hair is barely visible between the spines. In the cooler parts of its range, it \Phibernates\p in winter.
Mating occurs in July and August. The single egg is laid into a temporary pouch which develops on the abdomen of the female and hatches after about ten days. The young is suckled in the pouch until the spines begin to develop. Still blind, it is then left in a short burrow while the mother is feeding: it is suckled for at least three months.
