#5: Baby Platypuses Are Born Hairless Platypus are born with no hair.īaby platypuses have hair made to keep their skin dry while spending most of their time in the water. Adult platypuses actually use gravel, or little rocks, that they scoop into their mouths to help them ‘chew’ their food up for them. It’s around this four-month mark that these babies lose all their teeth and never get them back. Like many other babies that have to hatch from an egg, they are born with what’s called egg teeth that help them break free of their shell prison.Īfter about four months of being cooped up in their nursery with mom, they’re finally able to emerge and take their very first swim. She lays her eggs there and then sleeps on top of them while they are busy incubating. #4: Baby Platypuses Are Born With A Set Of Temporary Teeth Platypus babies are born with a temporary set of teeth.įemale Platypuses dig a tunnel that will be used as a nursery for her young. Still, the main conclusion is that the baby platypus has such a simplistic diet that evolution decided a stomach wasn’t necessary. Researchers have gone back and forth on the reasoning behind the absence of a stomach. Instead of the things they eat going down and collecting into their stomachs, it goes directly into their intestines. #3: Platypus Babies Don’t Have A Stomach Platypuses don’t have stomachs.ĭid you know that cows have four stomachs? Or that the beaked whale has up to 9? It’s crazy to think about animals having multiple stomachs when the baby platypus is born without one all. That discovery has led many to believe that venom is intended to help the males during the mating season. However, we’ve come to learn that around mating season, they produce even more venom than usual. Previously, it was widely thought that this was used as a defense against predators in the wild. Male platypuses have a ‘stinger’ on the back of the hind legs that secrete their venom. There are only six venomous mammals on the planet, and the male baby platypus happens to be one. #2: Male Platypus Babies Are Venomous Male platypus puggles are among only six venomous mammals on Earth. Pair that with their webbed feet and you have the perfect formula for speedy swimming!īy the time baby platypuses reach about five months in age, they can swim and find food resources all on their own. They have a tail like a beaver that they use to steer them around. They stay close to their mothers, who teach them everything they need to know to grow up and survive. #1: Platypus Puggles Can’t Swim Newborn platypuses cannot swim.Īdult platypuses can swim up to two and a half miles per hour! Would you believe that when they’re born, they can’t swim at all? Even though it may seem they are born in the water, baby platypuses are born incredibly fragile and cannot swim on their own. Did you know that platypuses were thought to be a joke when they were first discovered? People thought they were being tricked with two animals sewn together that’s how unique the platypus is! There are many things to learn about these one-of-a-kind creatures, so here are five pictures and interesting facts about the baby platypus.
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