platypus
Australia's egg-layer
A platypus is an egg-laying mammal native to eastern Australia, with a duck-like bill, webbed feet, and a beaver-like tail.
Males have venomous spurs on their hind legs.
The animal's bizarre combination of features—it also has fur and nurses its young—made European naturalists initially suspect a hoax when specimens first arrived.
Plural: platypuses or platypi.
Egg-laying mammal
- TasmaniaIsland state below Australia
- eucalyptusAromatic Australian timber tree
- kangarooPouched Australian leaper
- koalaTree-dwelling Australian marsupial
wombat · wallaby · echidna · billabong · bushland · outback · dingo · emu
Egg-laying mammal
- oviparousReproducing through external eggs
- incubationDevelopment before emergence
- clutchMechanism linking engine to gearbox
- nestingMaking a dwelling
burrow · hatchling · reproduction · breeding · embryo · laying · echidna · puggles
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- beaver tailStretched fried pastry
- webbed feetSkin-connected toes for swimming
- furAnimal body hair
- spurIncentive or heel device
waterproof coat · sensory receptors · cheek pouches · cloaca · streamlined · whiskers · nostrils · eyes
Non-saline aquatic environment
- streamsContinuous flows of something
- riversFlowing bodies of water
- burrowAnimal's dug dwelling
- divingEntering water deliberately
swimming · paddling · webbed feet · wetland · waterways · creek · riparian · underwater
Incentive or heel device
- venomInjected animal poison
- envenomationInjection of animal poison
- maleSperm-producing sex
- defenseProtection against harm
painful · swelling · toxin · peptides · excruciating · edema · breeding season · potent
Organism unchanged since prehistory
- ancientVery old indeed
- GondwanaAncient southern supercontinent
- primitiveIn earliest form
- uniqueOnly one exists
enigma · convergent evolution · ancestor · Mesozoic · fossil record · Cretaceous · divergence · basal
monotreme
Egg-laying mammal
- TasmaniaIsland state below Australia
- eucalyptusAromatic Australian timber tree
- kangarooPouched Australian leaper
koala · wombat · wallaby · echidna · billabong · bushland · outback · dingo · emu · kookaburra
monotreme
Egg-laying mammal
- oviparousReproducing through external eggs
- incubationDevelopment before emergence
- clutchMechanism linking engine to gearbox
nesting · burrow · hatchling · reproduction · breeding · embryo · laying · echidna · puggles · nursing
bill
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- beaver tailStretched fried pastry
- webbed feetSkin-connected toes for swimming
- furAnimal body hair
spur · waterproof coat · sensory receptors · cheek pouches · cloaca · streamlined · whiskers · nostrils · eyes · ears
freshwater
Non-saline aquatic environment
diving · swimming · paddling · webbed feet · wetland · waterways · creek · riparian · underwater · ponds
spur
Incentive or heel device
- venomInjected animal poison
- envenomationInjection of animal poison
- maleSperm-producing sex
defense · painful · swelling · toxin · peptides · excruciating · edema · breeding season · potent · hind leg
living fossil
Organism unchanged since prehistory
unique · enigma · convergent evolution · ancestor · Mesozoic · fossil record · Cretaceous · divergence · basal · genetic
- Australianakangaroo, Vegemite, boomerang, koala, didgeridoo
- Australian mammalskangaroos, koalas, wombats, wallabies, echidnas
- bizarre creaturesaxolotl, aye-aye, blobfish, naked mole rat, star-nosed mole
- monotremesechidna, monotreme, monotremes
- semiaquatic mammalsbeaver, capybara, hippopotamus, hippo, muskrat
- duck-billed animalsduck, mallard, shoveler, merganser, waterfowl
- duck-billed platypusSemiaquatic egg-laying Australian mammal
- duck-billed platypusesSemi-aquatic egg-laying mammals