What food does the platypus eat?

There is no doubt that the platypus is one of the strange-looking animals on earth. Its fat body, flat tail and mouth have two outstanding features: the first is a duck-like mouth, and the second is that there are a pair of 15mm hollow bones on the back of the platypus's legs, which contain non-toxic toxins. Let's take a look at what the platypus eats.

What food does the platypus eat?

Platypus like to eat small aquatic animals, such as insect eggs, shrimp and worms, and usually hunt crustaceans, earthworms and other animals by the water in the early morning and dusk. But the platypus does not have the sharp teeth of a mammal. Every time it catches food in the water, it hides it in the cheek, then floats to the surface, hitting it up and down with the jaws in its mouth. It eats so much that the amount of food consumed every day is equal to its own weight.

The habitat of the platypus

Platypus live in rivers and lakes, and usually like to live in caves by the water. Nests are often built on the banks of swamps or rivers, with holes opened underwater, including mountain streams, stagnant or dirty rivers, lakes and ponds. It dug holes on the shore as a concealment, and the caves were connected to the adjoining waters. Apart from lactation, the platypus lives alone all its life, spending most of its time in the water.

The growth and reproduction of platypus

The platypus is a mammal. Although the mother also secretes milk to feed her young, it is not born but lays eggs. That is, eggs are laid by the mother and hatched by the temperature of the mother, just like birds. The mother has no breasts and nipples and secretes milk on both sides of the abdomen, and the cub licks on the mother's abdomen. The larvae have teeth, but the adult gums are toothless, and they are replaced by growing horny plates, whose front occlusal surfaces form many raised ridges to crush the shells of mollusks such as shellfish and snails, or to chop up other food.

Protection status of platypus

Platypus is of great academic significance, after hundreds of millions of years, neither extinction nor much evolution, always wandering in the "transition stage", full of mystery. This animal, which is only native to Australia in the world, was once in danger of extinction due to the pursuit of specimens and precious furs and years of overfishing. Because of its particularity and rarity, it has been listed as an international animal protection, and the Australian government has formulated protection laws and regulations.