Is the platypus viviparous?
Most mammals are viviparous, but this Australian animal is oviparous. Of all mammals, only they lay eggs with another rare animal, the echidna, which is also native to Australia.
Although mothers also secrete milk to feed their young, they are not viviparous but oviparous. That is, the mother bird lays eggs and hatches by the temperature of the mother bird like a bird. The mother beast has no breasts and nipples, but secretes milk on both sides of the abdomen, and the cubs lie on the mother beast's abdomen and lick. Larvae has teeth, but adult gums have no teeth, instead, they are horny plates that can grow continuously. Many raised transverse ridges are formed on the occlusal surface in front of the board, which are used to crush the shells of mollusks such as shellfish and snails, or to chop up other foods. The horny plate at the back is flat, and the flat uvula opposite to the plate has an auxiliary "chewing" effect on poisonous egg-laying mammals.
Spring is the season for platypus to give birth. Usually females will find a safe place underwater and then dig a cave about 20 meters long. The duckbill dug such a wide cave and built a mansion for himself and his future children. Females usually lay two eggs in a building. After two weeks of hard work, her baby was finally born. At this time, the mother platypus can hold her baby in her arms and feed them with water. It takes three or four months for the cubs to grow up.
During the breeding season, adult platypus will dig a special hole on the river bank with the wide nails of its front feet. This hole is about 30 meters long and contains one or more nests.
The female platypus will lay two or three soft-shelled eggs, and the larvae will hatch after 10. Since then, they have behaved more and more like mammals: young platypus ate their mother's milk until they were old enough to leave the cave.
The platypus is a carnivore, which preys on insects and other small animals living in flowing streams and rivers. Underwater, the platypus closes its eyes and gropes for food in the mud with its soft and sensitive mouth.
The platypus pursues mating in the water, and its eggs are like turtle eggs. After hatching, platypus can only go out for food by breastfeeding for 4 months.
The female digs a cave equivalent to 16 meters long and lays her eggs in a nest made of wet aquatic plants. Every time she lays eggs, she sometimes lays three eggs. Eggs are smaller than sparrow eggs and stick to each other. During the incubation period, the hole was blocked and the hatched cubs were not fully developed. The platypus has neither a pouch nor a nipple, and the fasciculate breast directly opens in the abdominal breast area. The cubs suck milk from the breast area with a retractable tongue for about five months. More than 200 years ago, when the first British explorers brought back a platypus specimen from Australia, all scientists couldn't believe their eyes: the body was covered with thick fur like an otter, the mouth was as wide and flat as a duckbill, there were four flippers, and the tail was as wide as a nutria. Scientists believe that this strange mixture must be a fake made by someone playing a prank. The most incomprehensible thing is that this animal can lay eggs like reptiles or birds. After the eggs hatch, they can feed their young like mammals. This violates the existing division of mammals and non-mammals by scientists. After many controversies and studies, scientists finally came to the conclusion that this strange animal belongs to the family Monoptera, that is, "egg-laying mammal" and was named "platypus or platypus". This animal represents a link in the evolution from reptiles to mammals.