Admin Table of Contents
- 1 Are platypus and elephants related?
- 2 How closely related are platypus and echidna?
- 3 Is a platypus related to a duck?
- 4 Are beavers related to platypus?
- 5 What is a platypus DNA?
- 6 What is the DNA of a platypus?
- 7 What do we know about the evolutionary history of the platypus?
- 8 Are platypus poisonous to humans?
The classification of the platypus as a mammal—the same group of animals that includes dolphins, elephants, and humans—has not always been self-evident. Monotremes are a group of five extant mammals that lay eggs and have highly specialized mouth parts.
Related Stories DNA analysis of the land-loving, spiny echidna has found it was once an amphibious platypus-like creature. The study by Australian evolutionary biologists shows the platypus and echidna diverged from the same ancestor between 19 and 48 million years ago.
Are humans closely related to platypus?
Sequencing of the platypus genome reveals that the platypus has about 18,000 genes; humans, by comparison, have somewhere around 20,000. Moreover, roughly 82% of the platypus’s genes are shared between monotremes, marsupials, eutherians, birds, and reptiles.
Sometimes known as a duck-billed platypus, this curious mammal combines the characteristics of many different species in one. The platypus is a duck-billed, beaver-tailed, otter-footed, egg-laying aquatic creature native to Australia.
Accordingly, while the platypus shares some physical features with birds, beavers and reptiles, the only animal that can be considered a relative of the platypus is the echidna.
Are otters and platypus related?
The animal is best described as a hodgepodge of more familiar species: the duck (bill and webbed feet), beaver (tail), and otter (body and fur).
What is a platypus DNA?
Platypus DNA is a combination of reptiles, birds and mammals. May 7, 2008. The curious discovery of the duck-billed, egg-laying, otter-footed, beaver-tailed, venomous platypus in Australia in 1798 convinced British scientists that it must be a hoax. Sketches of its appearance were thought to be impossible.
What is the DNA of a platypus?
In their investigation of the platypus genetic blueprint, the scientists found that its genome contains about 18,500 genes, similar to other vertebrates and about two-thirds the size of the human genome. The platypus shares 82 percent of its genes with the human, mouse, dog, opossum and chicken.
Is a platypus a mammal?
The platypus is a remarkable mammal found only in Australia. The platypus is a duck-billed, beaver-tailed, otter-footed, egg-laying aquatic creature native to Australia. If its appearance alone somehow fails to impress, the male of the species is also one of the world’s few venomous mammals! Equipped with sharp stingers on the heels…
What do we know about the evolutionary history of the platypus?
A central goal was to determine which platypus features may have been inherited from ancient reptilian ancestors and which evolved independently in the monotreme lineage. As expected, platypus DNA was found to include a number of genes not found in other mammals.
Are platypus poisonous to humans?
If its appearance alone somehow fails to impress, the male of the species is also one of the world’s few venomous mammals! Equipped with sharp stingers on the heels of its hind feet, the male platypus can deliver a strong toxic blow to any approaching foe.
Where do platypus lay their eggs?
The female platypus lays her eggs in an underground burrow that she digs near the water’s edge. Baby platypuses hatch after 10 days and nurse for up to four months before they swim off and forage on their own. The Commonwealth of Australia reveres this remarkable mammal so much that it honors the platypus with a place on its 20-cent coin.