A recent study published in Biology Letters reports that platypus hair contains hollow, spherical melanosomes, a combination ...

You already know the platypus is strange. It’s the animal that lays eggs, has a duck bill, shoots venom from its ankles, and ...

Nearly 230 years after its discovery, the platypus is still finding new ways to baffle the scientific community.

The species’ melanosomes—tiny, pigment-filled structures inside hair cells—are hollow, a trait never before seen in mammals ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Ancient fossil evidence reshapes the story of the evolution of echidnas and platypuses, revealing a surprising aquatic ancestry.

The combination of a beaver-like body and duck-like bill of the platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) is only the first of a long list of strange features on this unique creature. These odd mammals also ...

Platypuses are weird looking. They look like someone stitched together a duck and a beaver—flat bill, webbed feet, and a broad tail. But their appearance isn’t even the strangest thing about them. Not ...

The platypus is found only in Australia, where it spends most of its life swimming in freshwater ponds and streams. Its incredibly sensitive bird-like bill contains thousands of electroreceptors.

A small bone found 30 years ago at Dinosaur Cove in south eastern Australia could turn what we know about the evolution of echidnas and platypuses on its head. Up until now, the accepted understanding ...

The platypus is one of the most mysterious members of the animal world. Even in the 21st century, there is still so much we don’t know about them. This “odd duck” was once so mysterious that it was ...

If you’ve always thought echidnas and platypuses were distant cousins who went their separate ways on land and water, think again. A single fossilized arm bone, found in a remote corner of ...

Platypuses are monotremes, one of the oldest branches of mammals, and they reproduce by laying eggs instead of giving birth to live young. Unlike most mammals, platypuses secrete milk through pores in ...