What Do Duck-Billed Platypus Eat?
Have you ever wondered what kind of food a platypus eats? Since they aren't ducks and they aren't beavers people often have no idea what a platypus eats. This is understandable because they are so unique. Platypus are carnivorous, and eat a wide ranging diet of organisms like freshwater shrimp, crayfish, insect larvae and worms. They usually spend about 12 hours looking for food every day!
The platypus actually uses a unique method to find its prey called electroreception. This means that uses it's bill to sense the elctromeaginic energy of another organism by sticking it into the sand to see if another creature is hiding there. They also utilizes large pouches in its cheek to store food, then return to the surface to consume it. How Scientists Can Use Platypus Eating Habits to Understand Mammalian Evolution.The platypus is extremely unique in that it uses the interesting method of electroreception to detect prey. This is important because electroreception is primarily used by amphibians, fish, and dolphins and is rarely used by other mammals. In fact, one of the only other group of mammals that uses electroreception are Echidna, which happen to be the only other monotreme beside platypus. Monotremes are an order of mammal that lays eggs instead of giving the life to young.
To understand electroreception in platypus, scientists in one study placed a battery and shrimp into an enclosure with a platypus to see how it would react. Interestingly, the platypus attacked the battery instead of the shrimp! This shows just how sensitive their electroreception is and how they use it to determine what they will attempt to go after. Studies like this are important because through them scientist can learn about how ancient mammals hunted prey and compare that to a variety of modern mammals. Watch this video to learn more about the Platypus bill and its amazing use of electroreception.
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Interesting Facts About Platypus Diet and Eating Habits:
The Platypus Food WebPlatypus are a vital part of their ecosystem and they support predators like crocodiles, eagles, hawks, owls, and snakes. They also play an important predatory role in their ecosystem because they control the population of fish, backswimmers, dragonflies, beetles and even algae.
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