The platypus is semiaquatic, inhabiting small streams and rivers over an extensive range from the cold highlands of Tasmania and the Australian Alps to the tropical rainforests of coastal Queensland as far north as the base of the Cape York Peninsula.[55] Inland, its distribution is not well known. It was considered extinct on the South Australian mainland, with the last sighting recorded at Renmark in 1975,[56] until some years after John Wamsley had created Warrawong Sanctuary (see below) in the 1980s, setting a platypus breeding program there, and it had subsequently closed.[57][58] In 2017 there were some unconfirmed sightings downstream, outside the sanctuary,[56] and in October 2020 a nesting platypus was filmed inside the recently reopened sanctuary.[59] There is a population on Kangaroo Island[60] introduced in the 1920s, which was said to stand at 150 individuals in the Rocky River region of Flinders Chase National Park before the 2019–20 Australian bushfire season, in which large portions of the island burnt, decimating all wildlife. However, with the SA Department for Environment and Water recovery teams working hard to reinstate their habitat, there had been a number of sightings reported by April 2020.[61]
The platypus is a carnivore: it feeds on annelid worms, insect larvae, freshwater shrimp, and freshwater yabby (crayfish) that it digs out of the riverbed with its snout or catches while swimming. It uses cheek-pouches to carry prey to the surface, where it is eaten. The platypus needs to eat about 20% of its own weight each day, which requires it to spend an average of 12 hours daily looking for food.
The platypus is an excellent swimmer and spends much of its time in the water foraging for food. It has a very characteristic swimming style and no external ears. Uniquely among mammals, it propels itself when swimming by an alternate rowing motion of the front feet; although all four feet of the platypus are webbed, the hind feet (which are held against the body) do not assist in propulsion, but are used for steering in combination with the tail.[69] The species is endothermic, maintaining its body temperature at about 32 °C (90 °F), lower than most mammals, even while foraging for hours in water below 5 °C (41 °F).
Dives normally last around 30 seconds, but can last longer, although few exceed the estimated aerobic limit of 40 seconds. Recovery at the surface between dives commonly takes from 10 to 20 seconds. When not in the water, the platypus retires to a short, straight resting burrow of oval cross-section, nearly always in the riverbank not far above water level, and often hidden under a protective tangle of roots. The average sleep time of a platypus is said to be as long as 14 hours per day, possibly because it eats crustaceans, which provide a high level of calories.? Replace this with a few lines on the animal's behaviour.
Anais: I like the platypus because it is an original animal, he has a lot of special features.
Deepak: The intersting fact about duck-billed platypus is it being a connecting link between reptiles and mammals. It shows mammalian characters like mammary glands, hair, etc. It shows reptilian characters in in laying eggs with yolk and shell.