What is a platypus large or small. The platypus is a symbol of Australia. What does a platypus look like
Platypus - endemic to Australia, as well as one of the most unusual representatives of the animal world of our planet.
About this mysterious, strange, shy creature that has very unusual appearance , they say, as a joke of the Creator, who allegedly created this beast from parts of other representatives of the fauna.
With a large beak on its head, reptile limbs, and a massive beaver-like tail, the appearance of the platypus is strange and bizarre. If you are wondering where the platypus lives, its lifestyle features and other facts about the life of this animal, then information below for you.
The platypus (platypus - "flat paw") is waterfowl, as well as the only modern representative of the platypus family that lives in Australia.
Platypus in Australia is a symbol. The image of this animal is present on the reverse of the twenty-cent Australian coin.
Late 18th century An unusual animal with a beak instead of a nose and a beaver tail was discovered by scientists during the colonization of the territory of New South Wales.
For a more detailed observation, the skin of the beast was transported to the UK, where even great minds mistook the platypus for a fake.
At that time, Chinese stuffed animals could connect different parts of the animal body, making bizarre stuffed animals. Managed to dispel the "authenticity" of the platypus George Shaw who gave the animal its name.
Interesting fact! There is a saying in Australia that when the Lord created animal world and discovered the residual " construction material"(duck nose, sharp claws, beaver tail, rooster spurs), I decided to create other platypus animals from these parts.
For more than 25 years, scientists did not know what species to attribute this animal to. But in 1824 German biologist Meckel discovered mammary glands in a female platypus. But the fact that this animal lays eggs, and does not bear cubs, became known only by the end of the 19th century.
Evolutionary experts are still unable to explain the specific anatomy and physiological features platypus. Various features of this amazing animal confuse evolutionists.
Where does the platypus live, what does it eat and its appearance
Platypus lives in Australia on the east coast as well as on the island of Tasmania.
In addition, platypuses artificially brought on the south island Kangaroo, where they feel great and breed.
platypus leads nocturnal semi-aquatic lifestyle. The animal is an excellent swimmer and can dive underwater for up to five minutes. The beast spends in the water up to ten hours a day.
Platypus lives near swamps. It can live both in warm tropical eucalyptus lagoons and near high mountain cold rivers. Platypuses build deep burrows to drain water from their coats. That is where they breed.
Long platypus can grow from 30 to 40 cm, and the tail at the same time reaches 10-15 cm. The fur of the platypus is soft and dense, gray or reddish on the belly and dark brown on the back.
Interesting fact! At the base of the male's beak, there is a specific gland that produces a secret with a musky smell.
The skin of the platypus' beak has nerve endings that provide not only wonderful touch, but also the ability to electrolocation, and, accordingly, the rapid search for prey.
The platypus, thanks to the special structure of its paws, can not only dig the ground, but also great swim. In the water, the animal moves much more actively. On land, it walks slowly, like a reptile.
As far as mass is concerned, the average platypus weighs 2 kg. The males of this animal are much larger than the females.
Platypuses spend a lot of time looking for food– 8-10 hours. Mostly they get food in the water, but they often find something to profit from on land.
Turning stones near the coast with their powerful claws or beak, they catch larvae, bugs and worms. Platypuses eat in the water tadpoles, frogs, small fish and even aquatic vegetation.
Every year platypuses fall into 5-10 days hibernation , after which they have a breeding season. It continues from August to November. Mating takes place in the water. Platypuses do not form permanent pairs.
After mating, the female digs a brood hole and after 2 weeks lays 1-3 eggs. The male does not take part in the construction of the burrow and the rearing of the young.
duck nose animal protection
Before the beginning of the 20th century the fur of the platypus was very valuable and they were exterminated for the sake of soft furs.
However, since advent of the twentieth century hunting for these animals was prohibited.
To date, the platypus population considered stable. However, pollution and degradation of the animal's habitat has led to the fact that its range has become mosaic.
Also damage to the population was caused by the colonists of the 19th century who were brought to Green Continent rabbits that forced out platypuses from their habitable places.
Today in Australia there are special protected reserves zones where these animals feel completely safe. In Victoria, the platypus can be seen in the Hillsville Game Reserve, and in Queensland in the protected West Burley pair.
It's important to know! Since the platypus is a shy animal, for a long time it was not possible to take this animal to the zoos of other continents. For the first time, this animal was able to be taken abroad only in the twenties of the 20th century to the New York Zoo. In an unnatural environment for the beast, he lived for only forty-nine days.
Platypus - indeed strange and cute creature, external features who cannot but be surprised. This animal lives exclusively in Australia, which once again proves the fact of the uniqueness of the flora and fauna of the Green Continent.
In conclusion, we suggest you look at the interesting video about amazing creation fauna- platypus:
amazing natural creation which is called the joke of God, platypus. According to the parable, after the creation of the animal world, the Lord collected the remains of materials, connected the beak of a duck, the spurs of a rooster, the tail of a beaver, the fur of a viper, and other parts. The result was a new beast, combining the features of reptiles, birds, mammals, even fish.
Description and features
The animal was discovered in the 18th century. amazing view animal, description of the platypus caused controversy as to what to call this miracle of nature. Aborigines gave several local names, European travelers first used the names "duck mole", "water mole", "bird animal", but the name "platypus" is historically preserved.
The body on short legs is 30-40 cm long, including the tail 55 cm. Weight adult 2 kg. Males are heavier than females - they differ by about a third of their weight. The tail is like a - with hair that thins over time.
The tail of an animal stores fat. The wool is soft and dense. The color on the back is dense brown, the abdomen with a red tint, sometimes a gray tint.
A rounded head with an elongated muzzle, turning into a flat beak, reminiscent of a duck. It is 6.5 cm long and 5 cm wide. It is soft in structure, covered with elastic skin. At its base is a gland that produces a substance with a musky odor.
At the top of the beak is the nose, or rather the nasal passages. Eyes, auditory openings are set on the sides of the head. The auricles are absent. When the platypus dives into the water, the valves of all organs close.
To replace the auditory, visual, olfactory organs, a kind of electrolocation is connected - natural skill find prey in spearfishing with the help of electroreceptors.
In the process of hunting, the animal continuously moves its beak to the sides. A highly developed sense of touch helps to detect weak electric fields when crustaceans move. Platypus is an animal unique, because although similar electroreceptors were found in echidnas, they do not play a leading role in obtaining food.
Teeth appear in young platypuses, but they wear down quickly. In their place, a keratinized plate is formed. Cheek pouches in extended oral cavity adapted for food storage. Small fish, crustaceans get there.
Universal paws are adapted for swimming, digging soil. The swimming membranes of the front paws are extended for movement, but in the coastal zone they are tucked so that the claws are in front. Swimming limbs are converted into digging devices.
The hind legs with undeveloped membranes serve as a rudder while swimming, the tail is a stabilizer. On land, the platypus moves like a reptile - the legs of the animal are on the sides of the body.
What class of animals does the platypus belong to?, was not decided immediately. In the process of studying physiology, scientists established the presence of mammary glands in females - this became the basis for asserting that unique creation refers to mammals.
The metabolism of the animal is also amazing. Body temperature is only 32°C. But in a cold pond, at 5°C, due to the increase in metabolic processes by several times, the animal maintains its normal body temperature.
The platypus has reliable protection- toxic saliva. This is important, since in general the animal is clumsy, vulnerable to the enemy. The poison is deadly to small animals such as dingoes. For the death of a person, the dose is too small, but painful, causes swelling for a long time.
The poison in the animal is produced by a gland on the thigh, passing to the horny spurs on the hind legs. The protective organ is provided only in males, the spurs of females fall off in the first year of life. Spurs are needed by males for mating fights, protection from enemies.
So, dogs were sent to catch animals, who were looking for platypuses not only on land, but also in water. But after a poisonous injection, the catchers died. That's why natural enemies there are few platypuses. It can become the prey of a sea leopard, monitor lizard, python, which crawl into the animal's hole.
Kinds
According to zoologists, together with echidnas, the detachment of monotremes represents platypus. What group of animals does it belong to? on the grounds of this mammal, it was not immediately identified. The unique animal was classified as a member of the platypus family, in which it is the only representative. Even the closest relatives of the platypus bear little resemblance.
On the basis of egg-laying, there is a similarity with reptiles. But the main difference in the milk method of feeding offspring gave reason to classify the platypus in the class of mammals.
Lifestyle and habitat
Platypus populations live on the territory of Australia, the islands of Tasmania, Kunguroo in the region of the southern coasts of the mainland. The extensive distribution area from Tasmania to Queensland has now declined. The animal has completely disappeared from areas of South Australia due to pollution of local waters.
Platypus in Australia inhabits various natural reservoirs, coastal zones of medium-sized rivers. The habitat of animals is fresh water with a temperature of 25-30°C. Platypuses avoid brackish water bodies, they are sensitive to various pollution.
The animal swims and dives very well. Dives in water last up to 5 minutes. Stay in the reservoir is up to 12 hours a day. The platypus feels great in wetlands, lakes, alpine streams, tropical warm rivers.
semi-aquatic image life is associated with a favorite area - a reservoir with a quiet current among thickets on elevated banks. The perfect place habitat near a calm river running through the forest.
Increased activity is manifested at night, in the twilight of the morning and evening. This is the time of hunting, since the need for daily replenishment of food supplies is up to a quarter of the animal's own weight. During the day, the animals sleep. The platypus searches for prey, turning over stones with its beak or paws, stirring up muddy masses from the bottom.
The burrow of the animal, straight, up to 10 meters in length, is the main refuge. Construction underground passage necessarily provides for an internal chamber for rest and breeding, two exits. One is located under the roots of trees, in dense thickets at a height of up to 3.6 m above the water level, the other is certainly at the depth of the reservoir. The entrance tunnel is specially with a narrow hole so as not to let water from the platypus fur.
In winter, animals fall into a short hibernation - 5-10 days in July. The period falls on the eve of the breeding season. The meaning of hibernation has not yet been reliably established. It is possible that this is the need of platypuses to accumulate vital energy before the mating season.
Endemics of Australia are attached to the habitat, sedentary, do not move far from their lair. The animals live alone, they do not create social ties. Experts call them primitive creatures, not seen in any ingenuity.
An extreme degree of caution has been developed. In places where they are not disturbed, platypuses approach the city limits.
Once upon a time, platypuses were exterminated because of their beautiful fur, but this object of fishing has been banned since the beginning of the 20th century. Populations have decreased, the range has become mosaic. Australians are making efforts to protect platypuses in nature reserves. Difficulties are manifested in the relocation of animals due to their increased fearfulness and excitability.
Breeding in captivity has not been successful. It's hard to find a more disturbing mammal than platypus - what animal able to leave a hole because of any unusual noise? An unusual voice for platypuses, vibration knocks animals out of the established rhythm of life for several days, sometimes weeks.
Great harm platypus populations were brought by rabbit breeding in Australia. The digging of holes by rabbits disturbed sensitive animals, prompted them to leave their usual places. The risk of extinction due to the characteristics of mammals is high. Hunting for it is prohibited, but habitat change has a detrimental effect on the fate of the platypus.
Food
The daily diet of an amazing animal includes various organisms: small aquatic animals, larvae, tadpoles, molluscs, crustaceans. The platypus stirs the bottom with its paws, with its beak - it picks up the rising living creatures in the cheek pouches. In addition to the living inhabitants of the reservoir, aquatic vegetation also gets there.
On land, all prey is rubbed by horny jaws. In general, an unpretentious platypus in food needs only a sufficient amount of food. He great swimmer, which, at good speed and maneuverability, is able to collect the right amount of edible organisms thanks to electrolocation.
Particular voracity is observed in females during lactation. There are examples when a female platypus ate a volume of food equal to her weight per day.
Reproduction and lifespan
The reproductive system of males practically does not differ from primitive mammals, while the female, in terms of the functioning of the ovaries, is closer to birds or reptiles. The breeding season after a short hibernation occurs from August to the end of November.
To attract the attention of the female, the male has to bite her by the tail. The animals move in circles in one of four courtship rituals, as if looking at each other, then mating. Males are polygamous and do not form stable pairs.
The female is engaged in the construction of the brood burrow. The male is removed from arranging the nest and caring for the offspring. The burrow differs from the usual shelter by its greater length and the presence of a nesting chamber. The material for creating a nest is brought by the female with a tail clamped near the stomach - these are stems, leaves. From water and uninvited guests, the entrance is clogged with earth plugs 15-20 cm thick. They make constipation with the help of a tail, which the platypus wields like a trowel.
2 weeks after mating, eggs appear, usually 1-3 pieces. In appearance, they resemble masonry reptiles - with a light leathery shell, about 1 cm in diameter. Constant humidity in the nest does not allow the eggs laid to dry out.
Between themselves they are connected by a sticky substance. Incubation lasts 10 days. The female at this time lies nearby, almost does not leave the hole.
The cubs pierce the shell with a tooth that falls off, appear naked, blind, about 2.5 cm long. The female takes the hatched crumbs to her stomach. Milk comes through the abdominal pores, the kids lick it off. Milk treatment lasts 4 months. The eyes open at 11 weeks.
At 3-4 months, the cubs make their first forays out of the hole. The female, while feeding offspring, sometimes goes hunting, closes the hole soil clod. Platypuses become completely independent and sexually mature at 1 year. The life of amazing animals in nature has not been studied enough. In reserves, it lasts about 10 years.
Evolutionists Haven't Solved the Mystery of the Name Yet platypus what animal was before him at an evolutionary stage of development. There is complete confusion on this issue. Platypus in the photo gives the impression of a funny toy, and in life it amazes specialists even more, proving by its very being that our nature still holds many secrets.
When scientists discovered the platypus in Australia, the very fact of its existence dealt a mortal blow to the theory of evolution: only the Lord God could unambiguously create such an unusual creature in every sense.
The nose of this amazing animal surprisingly strongly resembled the beak of a duck (hence the name), on each foot it had five webbed fingers. The paws of the creature, like those of a reptile, turned out to be located on the sides, and spurs were found on the hind legs, like those of a rooster.
The tail of the animal was not much different from the tail of a beaver, and it also turned out that it carries eggs and is able to poison the enemy with its own poison! And this is not a complete list. amazing features animal, which is the unofficial symbol of the Australian continent and is depicted on the twenty cent coin.
These amazing animals are waterfowl mammals, the only representatives of the platypus family that belong to the monotreme order. This detachment is notable for the fact that it includes proechidna, platypus and echidna, and the main feature of its representatives is that the urogenital sinus and intestines of animals do not go out in separate passages, but flow into the cloaca.
The platypus lives in eastern Australia, on Kangaroo Island and in Tasmania, which is located 240 km from the Australian coast towards Antarctica. Prefers to live in fresh water, the temperature indicators of which range from 25 to 29.9 ° C.
Previously, this animal could be found throughout the continent, but many of them were exterminated by poachers, and the remaining animals due to too much pollution environment moved to more environmentally friendly regions.
Description
The body of the platypus is tightly knitted, short-legged, covered with thick, pleasant to the touch, dark brown hair, which acquires a grayish or reddish tint on the belly. The shape of his head is round, the eyes, as well as the nasal and ear openings are located in the recesses, the edges of which, when the platypus dives, converge tightly.
The animal itself is small:
- Body length from 30 to 40 cm (males are one third larger than females);
- Tail length - 15 cm;
- Weight - about 2 kg.
The legs of the animal are located on the sides, which is why its gait is extremely reminiscent of the movement of reptiles on land. There are five fingers on the paws of the animal, which are ideally suited not only to swim, but also to dig the ground: the swimming membrane connecting them is interesting because, if necessary, it can bend so that the claws of the animal will be outside, turning the swimming limb into a digging one.
Since the membranes on the hind legs of the animal are less developed, while swimming, it actively uses the front legs, while using the hind legs as a rudder, while the tail plays the role of balance.
The tail is slightly flat, covered with hair. Interestingly, it is very easy to determine the age of the platypus from it: the older, the less wool. The tail of the animal is also notable for the fact that it is in it, and not under the skin, that fat reserves are stored.
Beak
The most remarkable in the appearance of the animal will be, perhaps, its beak, which looks so unusual that it seems that it was once torn off from a duck, repainted black and attached to a fluffy head.
The beak of a platypus differs from the beak of birds: it is soft and flexible. At the same time, like a duck, it is flat and wide: with a length of 65 mm, its width is 50 mm. One more interesting feature the beak is that it is covered with elastic skin, in which there is a huge number of nerve endings. Thanks to them, the platypus, while on land, has an excellent sense of smell, and is also the only mammal, which feels weak electric fields that appear during muscle contraction of even the smallest animals, such as crayfish.
Such abilities for electrolocation enable the blind and deaf to aquatic environment the animal to detect prey: for this, being under water, he constantly turns his head in different directions.
An interesting fact is that the platypus is poisonous (besides it, among mammals, only thick lorises, shrews, and snail teeth have such abilities): the animal has toxic saliva, and males are also owners of poisonous horn spurs. At first, all young animals have them, but in females at the age of one year they disappear, while in males they grow further and reach one and a half centimeters.
Each spur is connected through a special duct to a gland located on the thigh, which during the breeding season begins to produce poison of such strength that it is quite capable of killing a dingo or any other medium-sized animal (its animals are used mainly to fight other males). For a person, the poison is not fatal, however, the injection is extremely painful, and a large tumor appears in its place. The swelling subsides after a while, but the pain may well be felt for several months.
Way of life and nutrition
Platypuses live near swamps, near rivers and lakes, in warm tropical lagoons, and even despite all their love for warm water, can live in cold high mountain streams. This adaptability is explained by the fact that the animals have an extremely low metabolism, and the body temperature is only 32 ° C. The platypus is very good at regulating it, and therefore, even while in water, the temperature of which is 5 ° C, thanks to the acceleration of metabolism several times, the animal maintains desired temperature body for several hours.
The platypus lives in a deep hole about ten meters long, in which two entrances are provided: one is under water, the other is disguised by thickets or located under the roots of trees. Interestingly, the entrance tunnel is so narrow that when the platypus passes it to get into the inner chamber, the water from the owner's coat is squeezed out.
The animal goes hunting at night and stays in the water almost all the time: for its full existence, the weight of the food eaten per day must be at least a quarter of the weight of the animal. The platypus feeds on insects, crustaceans, frogs, worms, snails, small fish and even algae.
He is looking for prey not only in water, but also on land, in search of small living creatures, methodically turning stones with his beak or claws. As for spearfishing, it is not easy for the prey to get away from the animal: having found the victim, it instantly takes off from the spot, and it usually takes only a few seconds to grab it.
Having caught food, he does not eat it immediately, but stores it in special cheek pouches. Having collected the required amount of food, the platypus swims to the surface and, without going ashore, grinds it with horny plates, which it uses instead of teeth (only young animals have teeth, but they are so fragile that they wear out very quickly).
Reproduction and offspring
How long do platypuses live in wild nature, is not exactly known, but in captivity their life expectancy is about ten years. Therefore, the ability to reproduce offspring in platypuses appears already at the age of two years, and the mating season always begins in the spring.
An interesting fact: before the start of the mating season, platypuses always hibernate for no more than ten days. If before the start of the breeding season, males do not contact females, a considerable number of applicants gather near her during the mating season, and the males fiercely fight each other, using poisonous spurs. Despite fierce fights, platypuses do not form permanent pairs: immediately after mating, the male goes in search of other females.
The female does not lay her eggs in her hole, but specially digs out a new hole, which is not only longer than her dwelling, but also has a specially designated place for the nest, which the expectant mother makes from leaves and stems.
The female usually lays two eggs fourteen days after mating. These eggs are dirty white in color, and their diameter is about 11 mm (it is interesting that almost immediately the eggs stick together with the help of a special sticky substance covering them).
The incubation period lasts about ten days, all this time the mother of the hole almost does not leave and lies curled up around the eggs.
The baby is selected from the egg with the help of a special egg tooth, which falls off as soon as the cub makes its way. Small platypuses are born blind, without hair, about 2.5 cm long. The mother, lying on her back, immediately puts newborn babies on her stomach.
The animals do not have nipples at all: the female feeds the babies with milk, which comes through the pores located on the stomach. Milk, flowing down the mother's wool, accumulates in special grooves, from where it is licked by small platypuses. The female is separated from her cubs only in order to get her own food. Leaving the hole, she clogs the inlet with earth.
The eyes of the babies open quite late - at the end of the third month of life, and at seventeen weeks they begin to leave the hole and learn to hunt, while feeding with mother's milk ends.
Relationships with people
Whereas in nature this animal has few enemies (sometimes it is attacked by a python, a crocodile, predatory bird, a monitor lizard, a fox or an accidentally swum seal), at the beginning of the last century, it was on the verge of extinction. A hundred-year-old hunt did its job and destroyed almost everyone: products made from platypus fur turned out to be so popular that poachers did not know mercy (about 65 skins are needed to sew one fur coat).
The situation turned out to be so critical that already at the beginning of the last century, platypus hunting was completely banned. The measures turned out to be successful: now the population is quite stable and nothing threatens it, and the animals themselves, being the indigenous inhabitants of Australia and refusing to breed on other continents, are considered a symbol of the continent and are even depicted on one of the coins.
This is a very rare animal, which is a representative of an unusual Australian fauna. Refers to oviparous mammals, Latin name Ornithorhynchus anatinus.
Together with the tail, its body reaches a length of 55 cm, of which 25 is the tail. An adult platypus weighs about 2 kg. Male platypuses, like most animal species, are much larger than females.
Outwardly, the platypus is somewhat reminiscent of a beaver, especially its large tail. But it is strikingly distinguished from all other animals by the presence of an unusual soft beak, which is covered with elastic skin. It is thanks to him that he got his name. Its five-toed paws serve well for both swimming and digging. In the process of swimming, platypuses mainly use their front paws, on which there are characteristic membranes.
The platypus leads an active lifestyle at night, spending a lot of time in the water. For habitat chooses places on the shores small rivers and lakes in eastern Australia. mating season falls in August-November. Interestingly, on the eve of this period, platypuses fall into a short hibernation, which lasts from 5 to 10 days. Mating, preceded by a lengthy courtship ritual, takes place in the water. Male platypuses are polygamous.
In captivity, platypuses have been found to live an average of 10 years. What is their lifespan in vivo, science is not yet known. In the past, these unusual animals were the object of interest of hunters, who were attracted by the valuable and unique fur of these animals. However, at the beginning of the twentieth century, the Australian government issued a decree that banned hunting them.
The platypus is a duck-billed mammal. And although at the moment these unique animals are not threatened with extinction, environmental pollution and the development of previously sparsely populated areas of Australia cannot but have Negative influence on the platypus population. Unfortunately, their number is gradually decreasing.
The platypus is an Australian animal. To prevent this process, special reserves were created in Australia, in which everything was created for the safe living of platypuses. The most famous of them are West Burley and Hillsville.
Another notable feature of these animals is that the males have poisonous spurs on their hind legs. They contain poison that can cause severe pain in humans, and a medium-sized animal, such as dogs, can generally kill. The platypus is a mammal whose main feature is the presence of mammary glands. But platypuses differ from ordinary mammals in that they do not have nipples, but instead of them there are glandular skin areas, through the pores of which milk is secreted, with which they feed their cubs. Moreover, platypus milk contains a large number of fat, protein and carbohydrates.
Usually the female lays two to three leathery eggs with a large yolk and soft shell. The place of masonry becomes a deep hole. The little platypuses hatch in 10 days. They feed, as mentioned above, on milk, which is secreted by the modified sweat glands of the female. Due to the lack of nipples, the milk simply flows down the animal's fur, and the babies lick it off of it. Another unique property of platypuses is the presence of 10 sex chromosomes, although all other animals and humans have only two. Probably everyone knows that a person's gender depends on the combination of X and Y chromosomes. When XX is combined, a girl is born, XY is a boy. Similarly, the sex is determined in birds, but their chromosomes are called Z and W. But in platypuses, the combination is much more complex: in males, the combination of chromosomes looks like XYXYXYXYXY, and in females - XXXXXXXXXX. it unique phenomenon throughout the animal kingdom.
The platypus is a waterfowl belonging to the class of mammals of the monotreme order, or oviparous. This order includes only two families - platypus and echidna. The main difference between platypuses and echidnas from other mammals is the ability to lay eggs.
Where does the platypus live?
The platypus lives only in Australia. In the eastern part of the mainland, the range of the animal is quite extensive - from the Australian Alps and the Tasmanian plateau to the warm rain forests of Queensland. In the northern part of Australia, the platypus is found up to the Cape York Peninsula, and in the central and southern part it is completely extinct, with the exception of about. Kangaroo and the Murray-Darling River Basin. The reason for the disappearance of the platypus in the above regions was the pollution of river waters and intensive hunting for it until the beginning of the 20th century.
The platypus lives only near the coast with clean and fresh water. The home of the platypus is a burrow up to 10 meters long with two entrances. One entrance is in the water, and the other is above the water at a height of 1-3.5 m. Most platypuses lead night image life, but there are also individuals that hunt well during the day. 
What does a platypus eat?
Platypuses spend a lot of time in search of food - from 8 to 10 hours. Mostly by extracting it in the water, although they often find something to profit from on land. Turning stones near the coast with powerful claws or beaks, they often catch various beetles, larvae, worms and snails. In the water, platypuses eat small fish, crustaceans, tadpoles, frogs, and even aquatic vegetation. To maintain vitality, an animal needs to eat about a quarter of its own weight of various living creatures daily.