platypus
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The 15 Most Fun Evolutionary Adaptations
Billions of years of evolution has given rise to us, the millions of species that persist on planet Earth today. Some of us are small, some of us are big, and some of us have huge ears, flat tails, compound eyes, or infrared vision. Each of these adaptations has its merits, but only a handful…
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A Platypus Can Glow Green and Hunt Prey With Electricity but It Can’t Climb Dams to Find a Mate
The platypus is one of Earth’s most unique creatures. It sports a duck-like bill and flippers. It locates prey in murky water by emitting an electric charge. Males have venomous spurs on their legs, and the females lay eggs. And a platypus’ fur glows blue-green under UV light! Sadly, however, this fascinating and irreplaceable animal…
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6 Mammal Body Parts That Look Like They Were Stolen From Other Animals
Mammals have a pretty basic blueprint. Among other things, we give birth to live young, we’re warm-blooded, and, perhaps most obviously, we all have hair. (Yes, even dolphins.) But in the churn of natural selection, some mammals ended up with appendages that look like they should be found on a reptile, bird, or insect. That’s…
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Researchers Take Another Look at Platypus DNA, and Yup, Still Weird
Waddling, wriggling, ambling, digging, laying eggs. There’s no shortage of verbiage when it comes to describing monotremata — the taxonomic order made up of only two animals, the platypus and the echidna. Rattling off the numerous weird traits of these creatures is trope in news coverage — and it’s near impossible to avoid, since they…