User talk:DHydrox

Amazing Facts about Australian Mammals

Duck-billed platypus The Platypus is a monotreme, "an animal with one hole". Like the other monotreme, the echidna, and reptiles and birds, it has one vent, called the cloaca, through which digestive wastes, urine, eggs and sperm all leave its body. This remarkable mammal lives near unpolluted waterways in eastern Australia, from Cooktown south to Tasmania. It spends much of its time in the water and its eyes are set on top of its head, while its nostrils open on top of the leathery bill. The fine, dense fur is waterproof. A Platypus hunts underwater for small aquatic animals such as insect larvae, shrimps and worms. These are stored in cheek pouches, then taken to the surface, where they are chewed between horny grinding plates and ridges on the Platypus's upper and lower jaws, then swallowed. (A baby Platypus has teeth, but loses them about the time that it is weaned.) The broad, flat tail of the Platypus is used to store body fat.

Eggs in a burrow The spurs of the male Platypus are probably used in territorial fights in the springtime breeding season. Mating takes place in the water. The female digs a breeding burrow which may be up to 20 metres in length. She lays two soft, sticky eggs, each about 17 millimetres long, then incubates them between her abdomen and tail for about two weeks. The young suck milk that oozes onto patches on her abdomen. They leave the burrow after three months and are weaned at between four and five months.

The improbable Platypus When the first Platypus skin arrived in England about 200 years ago, scientists thought it was a fake. They could not imagine any animal with a wide, leathery bill, a furry body, a broad tail and webbed feet. They thought it impossible that a female mammal should lay eggs, or that a male mammal should have venomous spurs on its ankles. When the scientists finally accepted the Platypus as a real animal, they called it Ornithorhynchus anatinus, meaning "duck-like bird-snout". Amongst modern discoveries about the Platypus is the fact that it swims with its eyes, ears and nostrils shut. It locates the small water animals on which it feeds by detecting electric signals from their bodies with special sensors on its wide, flat bill. A Platypus propels itself with its forefeet, using its hindfeet as brakes and for steering. It may stay submerged for up to one minute.

Proposed deletion of "School Project - Duck-billed wonder"
The deletion of an article you created, School Project - Duck-billed wonder, has been proposed for the following reason:


 * Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, not a place to post school projecrts.

You are welcome to improve the article to meet Wikipedia's quality standards and remove the deletion notice from the article. You may also remove the notice if you disagree with the deletion, though in such cases, further discussion may take place at Articles for deletion, and the article may still be deleted if there is a consensus to do so.

Wikipedia has certain standards for inclusion that all articles must meet. Certain types of article must establish the notability of their subject by asserting its importance or significance. Additionally, since Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, content inappropriate for an encyclopedia, or content that would be more suited to somewhere else (such as a directory or social networking website) is not acceptable. See What Wikipedia is not for the relevant policy. You may wish to read our introduction to editing and guide to writing your first article.

Thank you.  Blanchardb - Me•MyEars•MyMouth - timed 23:04, 10 November 2008 (UTC)