Sep 29 2008
Weird Critter
Behold the platypus:
Without a doubt the strangest animal in the world, the platypus was first considered to be a prank by European “experts” when it was studied by them in 1798.
Today, science has revealed that this amazing creature is even more bizarre on the inside than it is on the outside.
DNA study reveals it to be a mixture of mammal, bird, and reptile. It has fur and the females produce milk for their young – but those offspring are hatched from eggs. And the male produces venom, injectable from spines on its back feet, which is typically the domain of reptiles.
The famous “duckbill” of the platypus is electrosensitive, enabling the animal to find food in murky water.
But the platypus isn’t done yet! The DNA study also discovered that they have 10 sex chromosomes. Human beings have two: XX for a female and XY for a male. A platypus has ten, which in theory makes it possible for them to have 25 genders. So far they seem to only have two, but who knows what further research will uncover?
