I had a little free time in between other tasks so I figured I might whip up a quick vector illustration. How about a platypus? I don’t think I’ve done one of those yet.¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Platypuses are a unique species found only in Eastern Australia. They belong to a family of animals called monotremes, of which only 3 species are known to exist. These little guys have the weirdest & most interesting features in the animal kingdom.
First, they have a bill and webbed feet like a duck, and their bill and skin also have electroreceptors like those on a shark’s nose. This makes them excellent swimmers and great underwater hunters.
They have flat tails like that of a beaver, powerful tough claws like an echidna (their cousins), and the males have venomous spurs on their hind legs that can cause intense pain and swelling if they sting. Also like beavers, they love to burrow and make their homes along creeks and rivers that they defend ferociously from rivals.
They also lay eggs, and the mothers have no nipples so they sweat milk from their skin which collects in the fur which the puggles (yes, that’s what their babies are called) can lick up.
They have waterproof coats like a seal and these were once highly prized and valuable.
They forage for insects, larvae, shellfish, and worms along creekbeds and store the catch in their cheeks like squirrels. They don’t have teeth as such, but flat bony plates, which means they can’t chew very well. So like birds, they also scoop up gravel to help “chew” their meals. They also don’t really have a stomach; their esophagus joins directly to their intestines.
The males weigh up to only around 3kg (~6½ lbs) and grow up to 50cm (20”), and females are generally smaller. They can live up to 17 years in the wild, and around 15 in captivity.
Truly an incredible and awesomely weird & unique creature. ☺
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