This time we will meet strange looking, egg-laying mammal endemic to eastern Australia, which is also poisonous - Platypus.
Platypus
The platypus is a most unusual animal. They have thick fur that keeps them warm underwater. Most of their fur is dark brown, with a lighter patch near their eyes, and a lighter color on the underside. On their front feet is extra skin that serves as a paddle when they swim. They walk clumsily on their knuckles in order to protect this webbed skin. Their bill is smooth, flexible and rubbery, and feels like suede. The male features a venomous spike on it back foot which has enough poison to cause severe pain for a human.
Platypuses are solitary, particularly males. If their territories overlap, they will feed at different times to avoid each other. They are nocturnal and sleep during the day. They spend much time in water and rarely seen moving on land. They waddle onto the banks of the river to dig burrows, which are tunnels with rooms. They also live under roots, debris or rock ledges. They spend a lot of time hunting for food, up to 10 to 12 hours and remain in their burrows when not hunting.
The platypus is carnivorous, feeding on annelid worms, freshwater shrimp, insect larvae, and freshwater yabby dug out with its snout from the riverbed or caught while swimming. It carries prey to the surface in its cheek-pouches. Each day it needs to eat as much as 20% of its own weight, so each day it must spend about 12 hours hunting for food.
While both male and female platypuses are born with ankle spurs, only the spurs on the male's back ankles deliver venom, composed largely of defensin-like proteins (DLPs), three of which are unique to the platypus. The DLPs are produced by the immune system of the platypus. The function of defensins is to cause lysis in pathogenic bacteria and viruses, but in platypuses they also are formed into venom for defence. Although powerful enough to kill smaller animals such as dogs, the venom is not lethal to humans, but the pain is so excruciating that the victim may be incapacitated. Oedema rapidly develops around the wound and gradually spreads throughout the affected limb. Information obtained from case histories and anecdotal evidence indicates the pain develops into a long-lasting hyperalgesia (a heightened sensitivity to pain) that persists for days or even months.
Distribution
Platypuses are found on Eastern and Southeastern coasts of Australia as well as Tasmania, Flinders and King Islands. There is also small introduced population on Kangaroo Island. Platypuses are restricted to streams and suitable freshwater bodies, including some shallow water storage lakes and ponds.
Inland, its distribution is not well known. It was considered extinct on the South Australian mainland, with the last sighting recorded at Renmark in 1975, until some years after John Wamsley had created Warrawong Sanctuary in the 1980s, setting a platypus breeding program there, and it had subsequently closed. In 2017 there were some unconfirmed sightings downstream, outside the sanctuary, and in October 2020 a nesting platypus was filmed inside the recently reopened sanctuary.
Conservation
Except for its loss from the state of South Australia, the platypus occupies the same general distribution as it did prior to European settlement of Australia. However, local changes and fragmentation of distribution due to human modification of its habitat are documented. Its historical abundance is unknown and its current abundance difficult to gauge, but it is assumed to have declined in numbers, although as of 1998 was still being considered as common over most of its current range. The species was extensively hunted for its fur until the early years of the 20th century and, although protected throughout Australia since 1905, until about 1950 it was still at risk of drowning in the nets of inland fisheries.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature recategorised its status as "near threatened" in 2016. The species is protected by law, but the only state in which it is listed as endangered is South Australia, under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972. In 2020 it has been recommended to be listed as a vulnerable species in Victoria under the state's Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988.
That's it for today. See you all next time.
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