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|conservation=Least concern<ref>http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/40488/0</ref>
|conservation=Least concern<ref>http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/40488/0</ref>
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}}
The '''platypus''' (''Ornithorhynchus anatinus'') is an aquatic [[mammal]], one of only five monotremes - mammal species which lays eggs as opposed to a live birth.<ref>↑ The other four are types of echidnas which are also native to [[Australia]].</ref> Its natural range is in eastern [[Australia]] and [[Tasmania]]. It has a bill, similar in shape to a [[duck]], which is very pliable, and also has webbed feet. Like all mammals it has fur and suckles its young. The platypus can find its prey in water due to its ability to detect electric fields produced by muscular contractions. The male platypus has has a spur on its hindfoot which can deliver venom - a feature which very few mammals possess. It has no visible ears.
The '''platypus''' (''Ornithorhynchus anatinus'') is an aquatic [[mammal]] found in eastern Australia and Tasmania, and one of five species in a distinct subclass named Prototheria, the egg-laying mammals<ref>↑ The other four are echidnas, also native to [[Australia]].</ref>. It has a bill similar in shape to a [[duck]], which is very pliable, and also has webbed feet. Like all mammals it has fur and suckles its young. The platypus can find its prey in water due to its ability to detect electric fields produced by muscular contractions. The male platypus has has a spur on its hindfoot which can deliver venom - a feature which very few mammals possess. It has no visible ears.
An excellent swimmer, the platypus spends much of its time foraging for [[food]] in water. It swims with an alternating left-to-right paddling of its front feet. Despite all four of its feet being webbed, its hindfeet remain held against its body, instead being used for steering (along with its tail) rather than propulsion.
An excellent swimmer, the platypus spends much of its time foraging for [[food]] in water. It swims with an alternating left-to-right paddling of its front feet. Despite all four of its feet being webbed, its hindfeet remain held against its body, instead being used for steering (along with its tail) rather than propulsion.