Tag: Monotremes

  • Platypuses Lay Eggs Like Reptiles!

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    The platypus is one of nature’s oddest creatures—it’s a mammal that lays eggs! Native to eastern Australia and Tasmania, platypuses are part of a rare group called monotremes, which includes only five species worldwide, like the echidna. Unlike most mammals that give birth to live young, female platypuses lay 1 to 3 small, leathery eggs…

  • Platypuses Don’t Have Nipples—But They Still Nurse Their Babies!

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    Platypuses are full of surprises, and here’s another one—they don’t have nipples, but they still nurse their babies with milk! As monotremes, platypuses are egg-laying mammals, which already makes them pretty unusual. But unlike most mammals that have nipples for breastfeeding, platypuses have a completely different system. Their milk oozes out of mammary gland ducts…