Ornithorhynchus anatinus

• Overview
• Interesting Facts
• Common Names
• Description
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Overview

Interesting Facts

Common Names

Click on the language to view common names.

Description

Habitat

Typically found in a lake at a mean distance from sea level of 328 meters (1,075 feet).[1]

Ecology: The Platypus is restricted to streams and suitable freshwater bodies, including some shallow water storage lakes and ponds (Carrick et al. 2008). Its food is almost exclusively benthic macroinvertebrates and so the species is water-dependent. Platypuses are largely solitary, and when not foraging in water they normally occupy a resting or nesting burrow in earth banks, although some individuals have been found resting in accumulated stream debris or in low dense vegetation. The species is seldom observed moving on land in mainland Australia, but is frequently seen out of the water in Tasmania, where its predator , the fox (Vulpes vulpes), has been introduced only relatively recently (T. Grant, S. Munks, F. Carrick, and M. Serena pers. comm. ). The breeding season varies widely depending on location. Females produce one to three eggs annually, but usually two (Carrick et al. 2008). Platypuses are long-lived animals (up to 20 years in the wild).[2].

List of Habitats :

•     5     Wetlands (inland)   
  
•     5.1     Wetlands (inland) - Permanent Rivers/Streams/Creeks (includes waterfalls )   
[more info]

Taxonomy

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Last scrutiny: 28-Nov-2006

Similar Species

Members of the genus Ornithorhynchus

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 2 species and subspecies in this genus:

O. anatinus (Duck-Billed Platypus) · O. anatinus anatinus (Duck-Billed Platypus)

More Info

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Further Reading

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• A geographical history of mammals. By R. Lydekker. .. Cambridge, The University press, 1896. url .
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• A manual of zoology / by T. Jeffrey Parker. New York: Macmillan, 1900. url p. xxv.
• A manual of zoology, London, Macmillan & Co., Ltd., 1900. url , .
• A manual of zoology. .. Edinburgh, Blackwood, 1870. url p. 657.
• A popular zoology / by J. Dorman Steele and J.W.P. Jenks. New York: A.S. Barnes & Company, c 1887. url p. 316.
• A synoptic text-book of zoölogy, for colleges and schools / by Arthur Wisswald Weysse. New York: Macmillan, 1904, c1903. url .
• A text-book of zoology / by T. Jeffery Parker and William A. Haswell. London: Macmillan1910 url p. 17, p. 19, p. 579.
• A text-book of zoology, London, Macmillan and Co., Limited, 1910. url .
• A text-book of zoology, by Jefferey Parker. .. and William A. Haswell. .. London, Macmillian and co., limited.1910. url , p. 579, p. 717.
• A text-book of zoology, by T. Jeffery Parker. .. and William A. Haswell. .. With illustrations. London, Macmillan and co., limited;1897. url , , p. 465, p. 465, p. 547, p. xvii.
• A text-book of zoology, by the late T. Jeffery Parker. .. and William A. Haswell. .. London, Macmillian and co., limited, 1921. url , , , p. 479, p. 561, p. 561, p. 702.
• A textbook in general zoology, Cincinnati [etc.]American Book Company[1912] url .
• Advanced biology / by Frank M. Wheat and Elizabeth T. Fitzpatrick. New York; American Book Company, [c1929] url p. 513.
• Advanced biology, by Frank M. Wheat and Elizabeth T. Fitzpatrick. Boston [etc.]American Book Company[c1929] url p. 513.
• Advances in the study of mammalian behavior / edited by John F. Eisenberg and Devra G. Kleiman. [Stillwater, Okla.]: American Society of Mammalogists; 1983. url , p. 152, p. 360, p. 361, p. 389, p. 391, p. 392, p. 393, p. 394, p. 681, p. 752.
• An introduction to the osteology of the mammalia / by William Henry Flower. London: Macmillan, 1885. url p. 89, p. 89.
• Anatomischer Anzeiger. Jena: G. Fischer, 1886- url p. 142, p. 444.
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• Outlines of zoology, New York, D. Appleton & Co., 1893. url .
• Outlines of zoology, by J. Arthur Thomson. Edinburgh [etc.]H. Frowde and Hodder & Stoughton, 1921. url p. 740.
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Notes

Contributors

• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 15, 2012.
• IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. . Downloaded on January 28, 2012.
• Lunney, D., Dickman, C., Copley, P., Grant, T., Munks, S., Carrick, F., Serena, M. & Ellis, M. 2008. Ornithorhynchus anatinus. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloadedon 03February2012.

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal November 26, 2007:

• Field Museum, Mammal specimens
• Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, Vertebrate specimens
• Marine Science Institute, UCSB, Paleobiology Database
• OZCAM
• Provider, Online Zoological Collections of Australian Museums
• Royal Ontario Museum, Mammal specimens
• University of Kansas Biodiversity Research Center, Mammal Collection
• University of Michigan Museum of Zoology
• , Mammal specimens

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 107403
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: ITS-552524
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 13484392
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 552524
• IUCN ID: 228761
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 137299

Footnotes

1. Standard Deviation = 339.080 based on 207 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]
2. Lunney, D., Dickman, C., Copley, P., Grant, T., Munks, S., Carrick, F., Serena, M. & Ellis, M. 2008. Ornithorhynchus anatinus. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 03 February 2012. [back]

©2004-2012 David Stang. All rights reserved.