Freaks of Nature

Press, Volume LXXV, Issue 22895, 16 December 1939, Page 2 (Supplement)

Freaks of Nature

THE PLATYPUS AND THE ECHIDNAS

One of the strangest animals in the world is the duckbill platypus, found only in Australia. It is beast, bird and reptile all in one. It is also amphibian which means it lives in the water as well as on land, and it has .a bill like a duck’s. Its four feet have webs between the toes and its body is covered with fur like a seal’s. It has a tail which is flat and broad so that it can swim under water with surprising speed. It lays eggs and hatches them'like a bird, and feeds its young like a cat or a dog. The platypus is so strange, a creature- that the first specimen sent to Europe (dead of course) was regarded by nearly everyone as a fake. It is found in all freshwater creeks, rivers, and lakes, from North Queensland and the Gulf of Carpentaria to Tasmania, a range of more than 2000. miles. It lives in the large rivers of the coastal areas, though they are also plentiful in the Murray and Darling rivers, the source of the latter river being 800 miles from the sea coast. I have also found it in the creeks in the Ravenshoe, district of North Queensland. Here: I examined some of their nesting burrows. • The entrance to the burrow vanes, in width from four to six -inches. Some are of amazing length, the record being- 100 ft, though sft to 20ft-is the rule. The burrows wind Considerably and; Often .have several branches. At the end of the main burrow is the nest-chamber. The nests I examined were made of eucalyptus and’ other leaves, grass,etc., and it is upon this foundation i that two eggs, white and soft-shelled 1 and fastened together, are laid.; The nest-chamber is about a foot j across, the bottom of the cavity being much lower than the floor of I the burrow. It is constructed in j complete darkness. All the earth j removed in the excavation of the burrow is pressed, into the walls by the animal’s body and tail, and not raked out through’the entrance. All. the burrows have a flat floor and an arched roof throughout their whole length—the exact shape : of the'platypus’s body. . _ , Elatypi were formerly shot in considerable numbers for the sake of their valuable pelts, but, they are now strictly l protected. The fur is short, thick , and velvety and beautifully toned. The general colour is brownish, grey above, anda silvery yellow under' .the body. The bill is large, wide and flat, resembling’ that of a duck but much longer’ and broader. :It alscL uses its bill for digging.- Tbe'platypus sometimes measures as much as two feet in length. The tail is. wide and flat. and covered with stiff dark hair, quite unlike the soft fur on

(By Glenville Pike)

the body. The webbed feet, when fully spread, measure about four* inches across, arid' each foot has five toes with a nail on each. The webs on the front feet extend far beyond and under the claws, thus causing the animal to walk on its “knuckles,” to prevent the claws from cutting into the webs. -The word platypus means “flat foot. One of its hind legs is -armed with a strong, sharp, poisonous spur with which it can strike with great force. Before it submerges, it closes its ears and eyes, and can remainmnder water for only a few minutes. Yet, under these difficulties it captures all the very active underwater life, even prawns. A peculiarity I noticed about the platypus was that it nearly always rose to the surface of the water tail first. On coming to the surface it usually hides among the roots of trees overhanging the bank. The platypus is shown on the ninepenny Australian postage stamp. * The Echidna .. The platypus is scarcely more interesting than five echidna or spiqy ant-eater; The echidna is a marsupial but also lays eggs and feeds its young like the platypus. It is covered with sharp quills like a porcupine, but otherwise it in no W'v resembles it. Echidnas grow up to 20 inches in length and live in the most rocky and inaccessible country; they are consequently very hard to find and rarely seen. Theiy are: also to be found far on the , inland plains of Australia. They live entirely upon ants. Its long tongue is coated with a sticky fluid which it thrusts into ant holes drawing it forth covered with hundreds of ants, both large and small. Echidnas are expert borrowers. In soft ground they dig so rapidly they seem to sink out of sight. Their sharp quills are a protection against their enemies, and if they are in danger they will immediately roll up in a ball and burrow under the surface. They are wonderfully strong for their size. A large echidna, imprisoned in a box the lid of which was weighted with a stone weighing 251 b, escaped by pushing the stone off the lid of its prison from inside. The echidna prefers a stroll towards sunset or at dawn. Sometimes he wanders into a barn or shed arid may be found cosily sleeping in a bed of grain or chaff. Met in the open, he walks, off holding tiis body quite clear of: tbe grouncL, with his quills lying flat, tart If you try .to stop him he immediately becomes a ball of menacing needlesharp spines and commences to dig in; '.. , V One egg is laid by the echidna and is hatched in the pouch. The baby is' carried about in the pouch by its mother for some months. When it is about six months old it is left in the nest where it remains until fully grown. . - The echidna is .almost blind ; but its ’ keen sense, of smell makes up for this. ’. ’ - It- is really a-very queer creature, and ' r has beeri ; described by naturalists as the' most’primitive of all mammals existing on the earth to-day. .It is the last representative of . prehistoric animals which were common in far geological ages.