Cool Platypus Facts

I chose to research the Platypus because I always found the animal quite interesting.  My brother also went to Australia over Christmas break and told me about them.

Interesting Facts about the Platypus:

    No widely accepted name for the plural term

    Scientists have used several terms over the years but none are universally accepted:

    Platypuses, Platypoda and Platypi have all been used in the past

    When it was originally discovered, it was thought to be a hoax.  The naturalist who received the pelt thought a duck bill was sewn on to a beaver-like animal.  According to the story, he even tried to cut the bill off with a scissors!

    An interesting fact about the Platypus' relatives is that they are all extinct.  The Platypus is the sole survivor of both its family and genus!

    The Platypus is known to grow larger in Tasmania because there are less predators!

    There is a fungus that is infecting and killing many of the animals in Tasmania!  Mucor amphiborum causes ulcers to form on the body!  This can cause the animal to get infected and die or have problems with thermoregulation.

The animals are actually quite small.  They only grow up to five pounds and can only get about twenty inches long. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               http://www.ryanphotographic.com/platypus.htm