A Platypus, Probably

Excerpt: Nature's Improbable WonderScientists believe that platypuses and other monotremes may be closely related to reptiles. One hundred million years ago many kinds of monotremes lived on earth. Eventually, however, most monotremes were crowded out by mammals that gave birth to live babies. Platypuses probably survived because Australia had fewer large mammalian predators than other continents and because plaltypuses evolved unique features that allowed them to hunt and live in freshwater streams.Unfortunately many of the streams that platypuses once lived in have been destroyed or damaged by human development and pollution. As a result you won't find many platypuses close to cities. However, the animals survive in many of eastern Australia's wilder streams, lakes, and rivers.Australians are taking steps to help platypuses. These steps include improving water quality, removing obstacles that might trap or drown platypuses, replacing weedy vegetation along stream banks with native eucalyptus and acacia trees, and stabilizing stream banks to prevent erosion. These actions are paying off. Platypus numbers have recently increased in some streams, and there are plans to reintroduce platypuses into places they haven't lived in decades.To learn more about the platypus, explore the website of the Australian Platypus Conservancy.

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