Who is a platypus? Detailed answer

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Who is a platypus? Detailed answer

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Who is a platypus?

The platypus is such a strange creature that at first people did not even want to believe in its existence. When British scientists saw one such specimen in 1799, they called it a fake.

Why is he so strange? The platypus has a beak like a duck, and a tail like a beaver, but it is covered with thick fur. He lays eggs and hatches them like a bird, but feeds his babies with milk like a mammal! It has webbed feet and can live both on land and in water.

The platypus lives in Eastern Australia and Tasmania. It does not have an external ear, but the nostrils are located at the end of a soft, rubber-like beak. The platypus can be completely in the water, exposing only the tip of its beak to the surface.

The front paws of the animal are adapted for swimming, and when the platypus walks on the ground, the membranes are hidden under the feet, and the claws protrude outward. The female lays one to three eggs. She hatches them until they hatch.

The cubs lick the mother's milk flowing from the mammary glands. Cubs are born with teeth, but soon they fall out, and platypuses use hard horny plates located on the sides of the beak.

The only venomous mammal in the world is the male platypus. He has special poison glands near his thighs. Long tubes run from these glands to a groove-like process on the hind legs. The venom is very similar to that of a snake. Males use it to fight each other during the mating season.

Platypuses feed at night, looking for earthworms, aquatic insects and crayfish. During the day, they climb into their nests, which are located in the silt.

Author: Likum A.

Random interesting fact from the Great Encyclopedia:

What are nails made of?

If every time you cut your nails, you would experience pain, then most likely you would try never to do this. How many people would have long nails!

But biting, breaking, cutting nails, we do not experience pain because they are made of dead cells. Nails are special structures that grow from the skin. Most of them are made up of keratin. It is a tough, dead form of protein, a substance resembling horn. At the base and on the sides, the nail fuses tightly with the skin. Under it is the most ordinary skin, with the exception that it has special elastic fibers that are tightly attached to the nail.

He himself is quite thick, but the root part under the skin is very thin. It protrudes slightly outward in the form of a white crescent and is called the "hole". The nail grows by 50 mm per year.

Women try to decorate their nails with colored varnishes and polishing. But for many people, nails cause all sorts of problems. Damage is one of the causes of most diseases. A burn or frostbite can cause the nail to never grow again. Excessive rigidity or, conversely, fragility can be the result of an infection, a digestive system disorder, poor circulation, or glandular disorders.

Women who complain about their nails in most cases have themselves to blame. Because, trying to grow their nails as long as possible, they are more likely to expose them to various injuries.

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