Ornithorynchidae
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1 |
A diving modern day platypus,
the only remaining species of the Family
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- Small
- Nocturnal and semi-aquatic
- Carnivore
- Endemic to Eastern Australia
- duck-billed
- Venomous spurs on hind legs of male
- Metabolic rate extremely low compared to other mammals (body
temperatye 32C rather than the typical placental temperature
of 38C)
- Broad flat tail - a large rubbery snout
- Body and tail coverd in brown fur
- Webbed feet
- 1-2kg
- 30-40cm
- Males a third lager than females
- Adults are toothless
- Reptile-like gait - legs are on the side of the body as opposed
to underneath, as in most mammals
- Can sense prey using electromagnetic sensors in the bill
- Unique reproduction
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- Only one species remains
- Very poorly understood for many years
- Being monotremes, they are survors of a very early branching
of the mammalian tree, a later branching is thought to have lead
to the marsupial and placental groups
- Ancestors may once have occupied part of South America (fossiled
molar of ancestor found)
- 10 sex chromosomes (most mammals have 2!)
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Tachyglossidae
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2 |
A AA Short-beaked echidna, one
of two remaining species
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- Rememble hedgehogs as all are covered in coarse hair and
spines
- 30cm in length
- Snouts are elongated and slender
- Short limbs, strong limbs and large claws which makes tham
a good digger
- Small mouth and a toothless jaw
- Feed by tearing open soft logs and anthills and use a long
sticky tongue to catch the invertebrates that are then crushed
between the toungue and the roof of the mouth
- Acute sight
- Protect themselves by rolling into a ball
- Unique reproduction
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- Also known as 'spiny anteaters'
- Only two species remain, however, they used to be much more
diverse
- Sparsely distributed and nowhere common - now considered
a vunerable species
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