| MadSci Network: Zoology |
The male duckbilled platypus has sharp spurs on its ankles which are poisonous. The poison can kill small animals and apparently cause a lot of pain in humans, but is not deadly to people (nonetheless, I'd rather not find out). The male platapuses (platypi?) use the spurs to fight one another during the mating season. The females don't have spurs.
The platypus is a monotreme or egg laying mammal. It could easily be labeled the strangest mammal on the planet. A defining characteristic of mammals is the fact that they are warm-blooded. The body temperature of the platypus generally ranges from 25*-30* centigrade, approaching what many reptiles prefer (humans have a body temperature of 37* centigrade). It also has many anatomical features characteristic of birds and reptiles, but not of other mammals.
You can learn more about the platypus at the following sites:
The Australian Platypus (Duckbill) page
-N.B.
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