Title : Winter break Life Science H.W.Name : Chris LeeFor my science homework I have chose (via goo.gl/gk9ZzS) these 4 animals, a platypus, rabbit, chameleon, & a wolverine. Platypuses are very unique animals. They are half beaver, half duck, & half otter which makes it 150% a strange animal. So strange that when the British first saw this creature (platypuses live in Australia but a few were brought to Britain) they thought it was someone who stitched bits & pieces of other animals together. They are one of the few animals known to be a mammal while having the ability to lay eggs. They are carnivores so they eat insects, worms, shrimps, etc. They hunt underwater & search for prey by rubbing their sensitive beaks along the floor. Platypuses also have a spiky looking structure the “spur”. These spurs act like weapons & are used for self defence. Spurs are located on their ankles (only hind legs). Though both genders have spurs only the male’s contain venom. This is because when in mating season the males use this venom to help them fight with their competitors. One of the platypuses most interesting yet strange innate behaviour is “sweating” milk to their offsprings. Platypuses do not have nipples so when the female platypus feeds her offspring she basically sweats milk out of the pores in her skin.  When platypuses are about 2 years old they are ready to have babies. But they can still have baby at the age of 9, 2 years before the average death age of platypuses (11 years old).  The male platypus’s learned behaviours when mating is that they are taught to use their spurs on their hind legs when fighting a competitor in mating season. These spurs are located on the platypuses hind legs. But only the males have venom. This is to increase the damage when fighting another male. This venom is powerful enough to kill smaller animals, but cannot kill a human being. Even though it cannot kill a human the pain when the venom is injected into your system it is known to be extremely painful. This extreme pain is known to last for a long time after being attacked and some patients even have to amputate their infected limb. If its enough to make a human cut their limb off it sure will be useful when fighting other males. Platypus’s learned behaviour for making homes is digging burrows in the ground to live in. Platypuses use their claws to dig a burrow much like a beaver or a snake’s. But since they are nocturnal they do this at night. These burrows are usually 18 meters / 59 feet but can be as deep as 30 meters. This is where all the platypus are born. Platypuses are born “helpless” which means they are literally helpless, no fur, deaf, & blind. After about 6 weeks they can leave their burrows and learn essentials to live on their own like swimming & hunting. Platypuses have webbed feet allowing them to swim through the water. They use their front legs to paddle and its hind legs & tail to steer itself. Another feature of a platypus’s tail other than steering is storing it’s fat. This fat is used when they have nothing to eat or as insulation. One of the biggest learned behaviour of platypuses is that they use their beaks to hunt. Platypus’s beaks aren’t any ordinary beak. Their beaks have tens of thousands of electroreceptors on their soft duck like beaks. Electroreceptors are organs that allow an animal to sense electric currents. These cells are in many aquatic animals but the most similar type of electroreceptors with platypus are the dolphins. Platypuses dive into the water and rub their sensitive beak against the floor so find their prey. Once the platypus senses a movement they dig using their beaks and catch their prey. Some learned behaviours are that since platypuses do not have teeth they are taught to eat gravel to digest their food.