Upworthy's book GOOD PEOPLE, now available - take a look!

Shop
 Explore 

species

Science

5 reasons platypus are the world's weirdest mammals, not including the egg laying thing

They have venomous spurs and sweat milk?!?

Photo credit: Canva

Platypus are like the Frankenstein's monster of the animal kingdom.

The diversity of life on Earth is mind-boggling. Scientists have identified over a million different species, but they estimate that it's less than 15% of the total number of species that exist in our world. We've barely scratched the surface of what creatures we share the planet with, and yet the variety of animals we know about is absolutely wild.

Among nature's weird animals, though, one stands out at perhaps the strangest—the platypus. The famed oddity from Down Under is known for being one of the tiny handful of mammals that lay eggs, but that's only the beginning of their weird quirks. Here are five reasons platypus might just be the most anomalous animal ever.

1. British scientists thought they were a hoax

Perhaps the most telling indicator that platypus are weird is that even actual animal researchers were in disbelief when they were first introduced to them.

Around 1799, biologist George Shaw was working in the natural history department of the British Museum when he received a pelt and drawing of a mysterious creature from the continent of Australia. It appears to be part duck, part otter, and part beaver—a Frankenstein's monster of an animal, essentially—and it was so strange that Shaw and others questioned if it was even real. After cutting into the pelt in various places to look for stitches, he determined that it was not a scientific hoax but a genuinely unique species.

Drawing of a platypus from 1799Frederick Polydore Nodder (public domain)

To be fair, it genuinely does look like it's just a bunch of random animal parts all stitched together, so we can't really blame them for being skeptical.

2. They're venomous

At least the males are. Spurs on the back of male platypus feet look a bit like dog's canine tooth and contain a clear, slightly venom. If you get stung by a platypus, you won't die, but you will be in a lot of pain—worse than childbirth, according to a woman who was stung by one—that could last for weeks. The localized swelling can last for months, and if you're super lucky you'll get some muscle wasting as well. Morphine and other standard analgesics won't relieve the pain, either, but nerve-blocking drugs can help. Neat, huh?

You're not likely to be attacked or stung by a platypus, however. The main thing to remember is to never pick up a male platypus from below, as touching its belly can trigger the spur response. (Or, you know, play it safe and just don't try to pick up a platypus.)

3. They 'sweat' milk

Platypus are mammals, which means they produce milk to nurse their young. Only problem is they don't have nipples. How does that work?

two baby platypus Even as babies, platypus look like a weird mish-mosh of a creature.Photo credit: Canva

Specialized mammary glands produce milk that oozes from a platypus's skin, much like sweat. As aquatic animals, they don't actually sweat at all, but it's the easiest way to describe how their milk comes out. As it's secreted, it pools into creases in the platypus mother's skin, where her babies—colloquially and adorably known as puggles—lap it up from her fur.

4. They're almost completely blind and deaf when they hunt

Platypus have eyes and ears that work fine on land, but these semi-aquatic creatures hunt in the water. When they go underwater, they keep their eyes closed most of the time, and flaps covering their ears close, rendering them mostly blind and deaf. So how are they able to locate the bottom-dwelling invertebrates they feed on (insect larvae, crustaceans, worms, and mollusks) when they can't see or hear?

Platypus use electroreceptors in their bills that detect electrical fields in their prey. Waving its head back and forth in the water like a metal detector, it can sense the direction and distance of its snacks.

platypus underwater Platypus use electroreception to hunt.Photo credit: Canva

5. They glow under black light

Platypus are about as "boring brown" as an animal can come, which allows them to blend into their natural environment easily. However, that drab coat is hiding a fun little secret: it glows under UV light.

Biofluorescence is common among some species, but exceedingly rare among mammals. Flying squirrels and opossums were the only two mammals known to glow this way prior to the discovery that platypus do it. Black lights make platypus glow a lovely blue-green color and no one knows why. Another delightful mystery.

All of that on top of the fact that they're a monotreme—a mammal that lays eggs—one of only five species with that claim to fame. No wonder they continue to surprise researchers just by being their cute, quirky selves.

wildlife

Most Shared

When his species was on the brink, one tortoise got busy.

This is Diego. A very happy 100-year-old tortoise.

Photo by Rodrigo Buenida/AFP/Getty Images.

He's originally from the San Diego Zoo (hence the name) and was brought to the Galapagos Islands in the 1977. He's been living there ever since.

What's he so happy about? Well, how do I put this...

Diego has — almost single-handedly — revived his nearly extinct species in the Galapagos Islands.

Yeah, the old shelled stud has been pretty busy.

"He's a very sexually active male reproducer," said Washington Tapia, a tortoise preservation specialist at Galapagos National Park. "He's contributed enormously to repopulating the island."

Diego taking a well-earned lunch break. Rodrigo Buenida/AFP/Getty Images.

Until very recently, Diego's species was in dire straits. For hundreds of years they were hunted for food by pirates and merchants, and before Diego's arrival in the islands, there were only 14 left.

Diego got to work, and it's estimated that he's fathered about 1,700 children so far.

"We did a genetic study and we discovered that he was the father of nearly 40 percent of the offspring released into the wild on Espanola," said Tapia.

Currently, he lives on Isla Santa Cruz with six females. And he'll likely live there for some time as his species can live well past 100.

Along with Diego's natural ... talents ... the revival of the Galapagos tortoise is thanks to some incredible work by conservationists around the world.

Organizations like the Galapagos Conservancy and the Charles Darwin Foundation have been hard at work for decades surveying, studying, and working to rescue endangered species on the Galapagos Islands.

A zookeeper weighs a Galapagos tortoise in London. Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images.

It's an appropriate place to do so, too. After all, the Galapagos Islands are where Charles Darwin first took note of the incredible diversity of Earth's creatures and how their appearances varied based on where they live. That observation would eventually lead to his Theory of Natural Selection — which is one of the founding principles for how we understand life and evolution today.

As far as Diego...

You can call him "sex mad" or a "ladies' man" or even "the most interesting giant tortoise in the world."

I'm going to call him the name he really deserves. Hero.

He's a hero who had the courage, the pluck, the outright valor to do what was right and save his species. Sure it was hard, but did Diego complain? No. Did he crawl back into his shell and cower from the challenge before him? No.

Diego, on the way to save his species. Rodrigo Buenida/AFP/Getty Images.

Diego kept his chin up and walked right into the danger. Slowly. Because he's a tortoise.

Frankly, we should all be a little more like Diego. I mean ... not exactly like Diego. Just, you know, in spirit. The whole "facing challenges" thing.

Way to go, old fella.

Most Shared

One of the most endangered birds on the planet just had a huge bounce back.

The kakapo parrot is one of the most endangered species in the world.

There are currently fewer than 200 of the flightless birds from New Zealand on the planet. That's a big problem, especially when you consider that (surprise, surprise) human beings are largely responsible for their dwindling population.

A kakapo parrot. Photo via Dianne Mason/Department of Conservation/Flickr.

Hundreds of years ago, humans hunted them for their skin and feathers. In the 1800s, land clearance and the introduction of mammalian predators (like dogs) in New Zealand further reduced their ability to survive.

Photo via Chris Birmingham/Department of Conservation/Flickr.

For decades, scientists have exhausted their options trying to bring the kakapo population back from the brink. They've tried everything.

Photo via Department of Conservation/Flickr.

And when I say everything, I mean everything. Including a "sperm helmet" that scientists wore on their heads to collect semen samples after they noticed the kakapos would routinely try to mate with people's heads.

Photo by Neil Sandas/AFP/Getty Images.

Needless to say, it didn't work.

In 2016, though, things are actually looking up for the little birds, as an incredible 33 kakapo chicks were recently born in New Zealand.

Incredibly, the kakapos made it happen all on their own, no sperm helmets needed. Thanks to the conservation efforts of the last several decades, the birds just had a very successful mating season.

Photo via Mike Bodie/Department of Conservation/Flickr.

They look as terrifying, as baby birds usually do (is it just me?), but their birth represents a huge win for conservation efforts that have been going on since at least 1891.

A conservation scientist who is NOT Bernie Sanders. Photo via Don Merton/Department of Conservation/Flickr.

Protecting endangered species is important for many reasons.

Like biodiversity, balancing ecosystems, and even climate change. It isn't always easy, and it doesn't always work — hell, just think of the poor guy who had to test out the ill-fated sperm helmet.

When it works out though, it's a big win for the world.

Photo via Alastair Morrison/Department of Conservation/Flickr.

From Your Site Articles

Group of endangered California condors wreak total havoc on a woman's porch - Upworthy ›

Most Shared

What you need to know about the death of the rare Sumatran rhinoceros.

In late March 2016, World Wildlife Fund researchers celebrated the reappearance of the incredibly rare Sumatran rhino.

Image from International Rhino Foundation/WIkimedia Commons.

On March 12, 2016, a female Sumatran rhino was captured in a pit trap in the East Kalimantan province of Indonesian Borneo. It was the first time in 40 years that one had been seen in the flesh.

The World Wildlife Fund called her story a "new hope."

Just one month later, the celebration ended abruptly when the captured Sumatran rhino, named Najaq, has died.

A leg infection seems to have been the cause of death, although a post-mortem is still being conducted as of this writing.

Though Najaq's death is sad, there is good news to share.

For a long time, it was thought there were no more Sumatran rhinos in Kalimantan. There were only a small population on the Malaysian side of the island (declared extinct in 2015), so many people thought these animals were just about gone forever.

But we were wrong. And that's very, very good.

Unlike its more sparsely coiffed cousins, the Sumatran rhino is covered in hair. Image from Ltshears/Wikimedia Commons.

Sumatran rhinos are one of the most endangered large animals on the planet. There are estimated to be fewer than 100 Sumatran rhinos left in the wild.

In fact, up until 2013, when a World Wildlife Fund team found rhino footprints in the jungle (and managed to photograph a Sumatran rhino via an automatic camera trap), the species was considered extinct in Kalimantan.

We now know that at least 15 Sumatran rhinos still exist in Borneo.

15 is not a lot, but for an animal thought to be gone, it's a remarkable number.

Even better — we know how save them.

Sumatran rhinos, like many species in Borneo, are threatened by both poachers and habitat loss. They need the forests and jungles to survive, but many wild places are being destroyed to make room for mining, plantations, and logging operations.

This land was cleared for a palm oil plantation in Malaysian Borneo. Image from T. R. Shankar Raman/Wikimedia Commons.

By creating sanctuaries for these animals we can give them the homes they need to survive.

Sanctuaries like Way Kamblas National Park, for instance. Way Kamblas is a protected area in Sumatran Indonesia that is home to a number of Sumatran rhinos that are protected by their own anti-poaching squad.

A worker and Rosa the rhino, who was transported to Way Kamblas to help establish a breeding population. Image via Bay Ismoyo/AFP/Getty Images.

What's more, by supporting the use of sustainable palm oil (which is used in more products you every day than you can even imagine), which many companies are already doing, we can help protect the forests outside of these designated sanctuaries.

Najaq's death is sad, but we're being given an incredible opportunity to save a species once thought to be lost.

“We now have proof that a species once thought extinct in Kalimantan still roams the forests, and we will now strengthen our efforts to protect this extraordinary species,”said Dr. Efransjah, CEO of WWF-Indonesia, when they found Najaq in the pit trap.

Rosa the rhino in the Way Kambas Sanctuary. Image from Willem v Strien/Flickr.

Najaq may have died, but her life truly did give a new hope to the preservation of her species.

We have the opportunity. We know what to do. We just need to act.

Most Shared

One of these animals may have the power to save the other 3. Do you know who it is?

If being an endangered species was a support group, there'd be a lot of fighting over chairs.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists almost 20,000 threatened species.

But you know who'd always get a chair? The rhino.

And really, rhinos are super important because they function kind of like a "sponsor" at an AA meeting — helping other animals make it.

Besides, if they wanna sit down, who is going to stop them? Image from Jon Mountjoy/Flickr.

There are five species of rhino, spread throughout Africa and Asia. In general, rhinos would really love nothing more than to be left alone to eat, sleep, and make more, smaller rhinos to carry on their rhino legacies. But life isn't fair.

Thanks to a demand for rhino horns and humans deciding that prime rhino habitat is a really good place for some shopping malls, their numbers have been falling. The rhino population has gotten so small that some places are using drones and private armies to protect them.

Some types of rhinos, like the southern white rhino, are still relatively numerous. But others, like the Sumatran and Javan rhinos, number less than 100. There may be only three northern white rhinos left.

This is, unfortunately, a story familiar to a lot of species.

Even more unfortunately, not all of these other species have the star power or recognition that a rhino does. Some are not well-known and some are just, uh...

This is an unfortunate-looking proboscis monkey. Image from Bjørn Christian Tørrissen/Wikimedia Commons.

...not as photogenic.

But here's the good news: Saving a rhino does something kind of magical.

Saving a plot of land for rhinos helps save all their neighbors too. It's a total bargain, a kind of two-for-one deal for protecting the animal kingdom, but involving otters, weasels, and leopards!

Protecting rhinos helps lots of other animals, like this pinecone-looking pangolin!

Image from David Brossard/Flickr.

You may have never heard of them, but pangolins may be the world's most trafficked mammal. The same protected areas and anti-poaching laws passed to protect big stars like rhinos may help save them too.

But wait, there's more! Because there's more than one species of rhino!

Protecting the habitat of the Sumatran rhino also helps protect this adorable family of Asian small-clawed otters, for instance.

These otters are deeply invested in rhino conservation. Image from Neil McIntosh/Flickr.

And this nappy binturong (aka the weasel version of Wilford Brimley):

He's dreaming about a rhino getting full habitat protection. Image from jinterwas/Flickr.

Fun fact: Binturongs laugh when they're happy and smell like popcorn.

And this clouded leopard!

This leopard is harder to see, so just save the rhino and get his habitat thrown in for free! Image from Dr. Raju Kasambe/Wikimedia Commons.

Why is saving the rhino such a powerful choice when it comes to saving animals?

Rhinos need a lot of space. A pair of female white rhinos can have a home territory of up to about 12 square miles, so keeping a healthy rhino population means setting aside a lot of land.

But rhinos aren't the only ones that live on that land, so protecting just one pair of rhinos also means protecting a host of their smaller neighbors. Regulations to prevent poaching and trafficking often help save other animals too. Their ability to protect their neighboring species means rhinos are crucial for their ecosystems.

Rhinos can be both a flagship species — one species used as a symbol for an entire ecosystem — and an umbrella species — one species whose protection trickles down to many others.

These guys? A total bargain for saving many species. Image from International Rhino Foundation/Wikimedia Commons.

That's why for everyone out there who loves to save coupons or is always on the hunt for an amazing deal, saving a rhino is a total bargain.

So a lot of animals might be happy to have a superstar neighbor like a rhino around.

Even if it means giving up their seat at the next endangered species meeting.