The platypus has a streamlined body and a superficially duck-like bill, which is actually covered by soft skin and is quite bendy and pliable around the edges. The platypus’s eyes and ears are both located in a muscular groove that pinches shut when an animal dives. Platypus fur colour is normally dark brown above (except for a small light-coloured patch of fur located next to each eye) and creamy white below (often tinged rusty red or brassy yellow). It is believed that the light-coloured patches by the eyes make it seem that the platypus’s eyes remain open when it’s underwater, thereby reducing the risk of predation. In very rare cases, a platypus may be partly or entirely white or cream-coloured above (Streeting et al. 2024). The platypus tail is broad and flat and used to store a large amount (30-60%) of a platypus’s total body fat (Hulbert and Grant 1978).
The platypus’s hind foot (below left) is equipped with sharp, curved claws that are used like a comb to groom the fur. The front foot (below right) ends in a broad expanse of skin that unfurls in the water to form a large and efficient paddle. Surplus skin folds neatly under the front foot when an animal leaves the water, making it easier to walk or to dig using the sturdy front claws.
Photos courtesy of Nicholas Rowlands (top); APC (bottom left and right)
LITERATURE CITED
Hulbert AJ and Grant TR (1983) A seasonal study of body condition and water turnover in a free-living population of platypuses, Ornithorhynchus anatinus (Monotremata). Australian Journal of Zoology 31, 109-116.
Streeting LM, Daugherty R, Burrows S, Bower DS, Watson S, Daugherty N and Dillon ML (2024) A leucistic platypus observed on the New England Tablelands of New South Wales. Australian Mammalogy 46, in press. doi:10.1071/AM23027