Platypus
The Platypus is the New South Wales Animal Emblem
Along with the Echidna they are the only existing species of monotreme (mammals that lay eggs).
They have a streamlined body, webbed feet, a broad tail and a bill that resembles a duck's bill but is actually a snout covered with soft, moist, leathery skin and sensitive nerve endings.
They measure about 30 to 45 centimetres in length, their weight varies quite a lot from 700 grams to 2.4 kilograms, with the males being bigger than the females.
The male has ankle spurs which produce a venom that is strong enough to kill smaller animals but not lethal to humans, but is, apparently, still very painful.
Monotremes are the only mammals known to have a sense of electroreception, which is the ability to receive and make use of electrical impulses, they locate their prey partly by detecting electric fields generated by muscular contractions. The Australian Platypus' electroreception is the most sensitive of any monotreme.
They also have excellent eyesight and hearing, with a range of hearing similar to the frequencies that humans can detect, but with the ability to hear lower frequencies than us.
They are also excellent swimmers and spend a great deal of time in the water looking for food, they move themselves, when swimming, with a rowing motion using their two front feet alternatively, the hind feet are not used in this propulsion but are used for steering, in combination with their tail.
They spend around half their days at rest in their burrows that they dig into banks around rivers, lakes or streams, they normally leave their burrows around dusk, and spend their nights foraging, returning to their burrows around dawn.
They eat small invertebrate animals, including crustaceans, worms and molluscs, as well as the larvae of many freshwater insects, which they dive and search for in shallow waters
They are solitary Australian animals that usually only get together to mate, which happens once a year, in the northern areas where they are found, this is in late June, in the southern areas it is in October.
The Female usually lays two eggs about 21 days after mating, which she incubates between her belly and her tail by holding them; they hatch after about 10 days.
Like the Echidna, they don't have nipples, the milk oozes through the skin along both sides of the mother's belly.
The young is called a puggle and is weaned at about four months.
The Australian Platypus is featured on our 20 cent coin.
They are found in the eastern states of Australia, from north Queensland to Tasmania, mainly east of the Great Dividing Range.
They live in a wide range of habitats and climates, from tropical rainforests to alpine lakes.
They are a protected species in Australia.
The Platypus was proclaimed the
New South Wales
Animal Emblem in 1971
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"The Legend of Bimi"
Introduction
There's a tale that begins in the sand hills
That I would like to tell,
Built from myth and many legends,
And my pen it does compel.
The desert's a hot, a hostile place,
Nothing's changed since time began,
There's a hazy unreality there
As if it, in the dreamtime was planned.
The noon of the day is so hot and still,
And over all an expectant hush,
Like a canvas that's waiting impatiently
For the touch of the artists brush.
The fire of the day can change swifly
To the night of startlingly cold,
Many legends are told of the people
Who live in this land so old.
To continue to read the introduction to this wonderful piece of poetry our Mother wrote called
"The Legend of Bimi" just go to our
Epic Poetry page
We know you will love it!