What Does the Moon Smell Like?: 151 Astounding Science Quizzes by Eva Everything Read Free Book Online Page B

shrill it can shatter glass
    b) skunk-like scent glands under its tail
    c) toxic saliva
    ONE
    d) venomous spurs on its ankles
    OF
    AKIND:
    CORRECT ANSWER:
    PLA
    d) venomous spurs on its ankles
    TYPUS
    The platypus is the most venomous mammal on the planet. Males have a spur on each ankle that can deliver enough poison to kill a small dog, or cause a human excruciating pain. All platypuses, or platypi if you prefer, are born with the spurs, but females shed them as they mature. In males, the spurs are connected to venom glands in their thighs. Aside from self-defence, it’s thought that the venomous spurs may be used during territorial fights between rival males. The poison is at its most toxic during mating season. Ouch.
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    Hunting Like a Platypus
    A platypus spends most of its days in the water hunt-Q
    ing for food. Every minute or so, it returns to the surface to breathe and, if it’s been successful, to eat whatever it’s caught. That sounds pretty normal for a ONE
    semi-aquatic mammal, but the platypus is very far OF
    from what you’d call a normal mammal.
    AKIND:
    Which animal hunts the most like the platypus?
    PLA
    a) beaver
    TYPUS
    b) hammerhead shark
    c) pelican
    d) sea lion
    75
    Hunting Like a Platypus
    Which animal hunts the most like the platypus?
    A
    a) beaver
    b) hammerhead shark
    c) pelican
    ONE
    d) sea lion
    OF
    AKIND:
    CORRECT ANSWER:
    PLA
    b) hammerhead shark
    TYPUS
    What could the imposing hammerhead shark possibly have in common with the cartoonish platypus? They both have a sixth sense, powered by special organs for sensing and locating the electrical currents given off by other animals. The platypus’ organs are in its vel-vety bill, and not only do they detect electrical fields, but they can generate them too, and detect a potential meal by the way it distorts the fields. The platypus is the only mammal that uses electrolocation. Unlike sharks, which use all of their senses to hunt, the platypus dives with its eyes, ears, and nos-trils squeezed shut. It relies on electrolocation and its sensitive bill for survival. It’s a unique way for a mammal to hunt, but the modern platypus has been around for at least 60 million years, so it must be working.
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    Motherhood: Platypus Style
    When a female platypus is ready to give birth, she Q
    goes into her breeding burrow, and plugs the hole up with leafy stuff. Then she lies down, usually on her back, and lays two, sometimes three, small, leathery ONE
    eggs about the size of marbles. The eggs stick
    OF
    together, and to the female’s fur, and she holds them A
    against her belly with her tail. After about 10 days of KIND:
    this unusual form of incubation, the tiny babies break PLA
    out of their shells using a “milk tooth,” just like baby TYPUS
    reptiles. What happens after that?
    How does a mother platypus feed her newly hatched babies? She . . .
    a) catches insects for them
    b) nurses them
    c) regurgitates food for them
    d) teaches them how to hunt
    77
    Motherhood: Platypus Style
    How does a mother platypus feed her newly hatched A
    babies? She . . .
    a) catches insects for them
    b) nurses them
    ONE
    c) regurgitates food for them
    OF
    d) teaches them how to hunt
    AKIND:
    PLA
    CORRECT ANSWER:
    TYPUS
    b) nurses them
    Platypus females nurse their babies, despite not having any nipples! Her mammary glands secrete
    milk through the pores of her skin. It pools in furrows on her belly, and the tiny babies lap it up while cling-ing to mom’s fur. Platypus babies are about the size of raisins, or soybeans, when they break out of their eggs, but after four months of mother’s milk, they’re about 30 centimetres (12 in) long. At that point, the juveniles leave mom’s burrow and make their own way in the world. When they reach maturity, they’re about 42 to 45 centimetres (16 to 18 in) long.