Duck-billed Platypus
Ornithorhynchus anatinus
- Class
- Mammal
- Rarity
- Rare
- Observations
- 3,204
- Most observed in
- 🇦🇺 Australia
- Conservation
- Near Threatened
Description
The platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus), sometimes referred to as the duck-billed platypus, is a semiaquatic, egg-laying mammal endemic to eastern Australia, including Tasmania. The platypus is the sole living representative of its family Ornithorhynchidae and genus Ornithorhynchus, though a number of related species appear in the fossil record. Together with the four species of echidna, it is one of the five extant species of monotremes, mammals that lay eggs instead of giving birth to live young.
Summary adapted from the Wikipedia article “Platypus”.