Imagine a creature that looks like a mashup from a child’s wildest dreams: a furry animal with the bill of a duck, the tail of a beaver, and webbed feet, that also lays eggs and produces venom. This ...

The platypus has a range of features that make it quite unlike any other animal. With a large bill, a paddle-like tail, webbed feet and a furry body, this funny-looking animal produces venom that ...

We have chosen the most poisonous snake, the inland taipan, the most lethal spider, the funnel web, and the much under-recognised platypus, whose bashful personality hides a set of poisonous spurs ...

and venom arose in snakes some 65 million years ago, followed by monotremes (such as the platypus) 46 million years ago. “If we find complex life on other planets,” says Bryan Fry, head of the ...

No, it does not, and here's why: It turns out that venomous snakes and the platypus have different duplications of the b-defensin genes. So, while co-opting these genes seems to be a common ...

Found in Australia and New Guinea, the platypus and echidna are called monotremes, and they are unique for being the only mammals that lay eggs. The amphibious platypus has a bill and webbed feet ...

Typically, mammals give birth to live young. However, three unusual species defy this norm. Scientists are intrigued by the ...

Here is a list of eight animals that may initially appear harmless or even cute can be surprisingly dangerous if provoked or encountered in the wrong circumstances. While they have big, expressive ...

The platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) has a puzzling array of features. Not only does it have that iconic duck bill, it lays eggs like a bird or reptile but feeds milk to its young like a mammal.

but it can be dangerous for both the displaced animal and the person involved if the platypus is male as they have venomous spurs,” police said. “If you are lucky enough to see a platypus in ...