Believed to originate some 200 million years ago, these furry mammals retain certain reptilian skeletal features. The platypus is also one of the few mammals to produce venom. PLATYPUS (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) (plural: platypuses) The echidna and the platypus are the only two existing monotremes (egg-laying mammals) in the world. The platypus is a monotreme, not a marsupial and there are just 2 species of monotreme mammals. Waddling, wriggling, ambling, digging, laying eggs. Additional traits linking these animals to birds are listed on a separate page of this website which discusses the possibility of bird-mammal hybrids. Monotremes have structural differences in the their digestive tract, jaws and brain. Fossil discovery and analysis show a slow form of evolution in monotremes compared to other mammals. Monotremes are divided into two broad categories. The platypus shows similar characteristics with the other members of monotremes. The scientific name of the platypus is Ornithorhynchus anatinus. The platypus is one of Australia's most iconic symbols. Monotremes member are viviparous. 'Platys' is Greek for 'flat or broad' and 'pous' means 'foot'. There’s no shortage of verbiage when it comes to describing monotremata—the taxonomic order made up of only two animals, the platypus … That is dark billed flat-footed platypus and spiny anteater called echidnas. The following is a list of traits linking monotremes with birds. All of them are found only in Australia and New Guinea. Similar electroreceptors are also present in echidnas, which, together with the platypus, make up the mammalian order Monotremata, a unique group with an exceptionally ancient history. As well as the platypus, there is the long-beaked echidna and the short-beaked echidna. The first occurrence in the fossil record of a platypus-like monotreme is from about 110 million years ago, in the early Cretaceous Period , when Australia was … Monotremes are the only mammals known to possess electroreception, a sense that enables them to locate prey by the electric fields generated by its muscle contraction. platypus Platypus ( Ornithorhynchus anatinus ) eating a worm underwater. Of all monotremes, the platypus has the most sensitive level of electroreception. Monotremes are a group of five extant mammals that lay eggs and have highly specialized mouth parts. In what way are monotreme mammals (platypus and echidna) similar to more ancestral amniote lineages, as opposed to more recently evolved mammals? Monotremes have scaly skin; other mammals have fur Monotremes must obtain food to feed their young other mammals produce milk to feed offspring Monotremes lay eggs: other mammals bear live young Monotremes are not a very diverse group today, and there has not been much fossil information known until rather recently. Platypus is a monotreme because it lays eggs and shows differences in the jaws and brain structure with other mammals. EGGS Monotremes incubate and hatch eggs outside the body (like birds). This evidence is backed by a jaw-bone of platypus … Monotremes are a unique order of mammals that includes only three extant species: the duck-billed platypus (Ornithorynchus anitinus), the short-billed echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus), and the western long-billed echidna (Zaglossus bruijni).Like other mammals, monotremes possess a segmented jaw, have three bones that comprise the middle ear, are warm blooded, and lactate. 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