Platypus Trivia
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57 free Platypus trivia questions with answers — nature quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
The platypus is the animal that made British scientists reach for their scissors to check for stitches, and this platypus trivia quiz leans into every one of its oddities. It covers the biology (why it lays eggs, how its bill senses electricity, what the male's venom spur does, why it has no stomach and no teeth, why it has ten sex chromosomes and glows under ultraviolet light) and its life story from a 17 mm leathery egg to a four-month-old 'puggle'. It also takes in the platypus in human history: the 1798 pelt sent to London, George Shaw's Platypus anatinus, William Caldwell's 1884 egg discovery, the wartime platypus sent to Winston Churchill, the 20-cent coin, the Sydney 2000 mascot and Perry the Platypus from Phineas and Ferb, plus its conservation status today. Every question was checked against a primary reference (mainly the Wikipedia article on the platypus) before publication and carries a citation, so it is safe to use in class or at quiz night. If you enjoy it, try our koala and Australia quizzes next.
30 of 57 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01The platypus is one of only five living species in which group of mammals?
Monotremes
Monotremes: the name means 'single opening', for the one passage these mammals use for eggs, urine and droppings alike.
Q 02Which other animals are the only egg-laying mammals alive alongside the platypus?
Echidnas
Echidnas: unlike the platypus, these spiny anteaters live on land, and the mother carries her single egg in a pouch until it hatches.
Q 03What did some European scientists suspect the first platypus pelt sent from Australia to be?
A stitched fake
A stitched fake: some suspected a taxidermist had joined a duck's beak to another animal's body, and George Shaw, who first described it, admitted he could not help having doubts.
Q 04Which sense do platypuses use to find prey with their eyes, ears and nostrils shut underwater?
Electrolocation
Electrolocation: receptors in the bill sense electric fields, and are thought to pick up the faint currents from the muscles of prey buried in the stream bed.
Q 05Where is the male platypus's venomous spur located?
On each hind foot
On each hind foot: the horny ankle spur delivers the venom, which males are thought to use on rivals in the breeding season, not to catch prey.
Q 06The name 'platypus' shares its Greek ending with 'octopus' and means what?
Flat-foot
Flat-foot. George Shaw gave it in 1799 as the animal's scientific name; scientists soon had to rename the genus, yet his discarded label stuck as the everyday name.
Q 07Why was George Shaw's original genus name Platypus dropped in favour of Ornithorhynchus?
A beetle already had it
A beetle already had it. A genus of beetles carried the name Platypus first, and in zoology the earlier use wins, so the mammal is a platypus only in everyday speech.
Q 08The scientific name Ornithorhynchus anatinus literally means what?
Duck-like bird-snout
Duck-like bird-snout. The name misleads: a duck's bill is hard, but the platypus's is covered in soft, pliable skin with a suede-like feel.
Q 09What unofficial name is used for a baby platypus?
Puggle
Puggle. No official term exists: the word spread after Taronga Zoo used it to publicise the platypus twins it reared in 2003.
Q 10What colour does platypus fur glow under ultraviolet light?
Cyan and green
Cyan and green. The glow was first reported in 2020 from museum specimens whose fur looks plain brown in ordinary light, and biologists still argue over whether it does the animal any good.
Q 11Which mammals hold the record for the densest fur, ahead of the thick-coated platypus?
Otters
Otters. A sea otter can pack up to a million hairs into a square inch; platypus fur comes close, and its waterproof coat traps a layer of air that keeps the animal warm underwater.
Q 12How does the platypus's tail differ from a beaver's?
It is furry rather than scaly
It is furry rather than scaly. The tail is also the platypus's larder: fat is stored there as an energy reserve.
Q 13How does a platypus protect its front webbing when walking on land?
Folds it up and knuckle-walks
Q 21Where in the male platypus's body is its venom produced?
In glands in the thighs
In glands in the thighs. Venom output peaks in the breeding season, which is why the spurs are thought to be weapons for males competing over mates.
Q 22Which Australian island has an introduced platypus population, first released there in 1928?
Kangaroo
Kangaroo Island. Platypuses were released in Flinders Chase National Park in 1928, 1941 and 1946, and their descendants became South Australia's only established population after the mainland animals died out.
Q 23How does a platypus propel itself through the water?
With its front feet only
Folds it up and knuckle-walks. The webbing extends well past the claws for paddling, so on land the spare skin tucks under the foot, freeing the claws for walking and digging.
Q 14Adult platypuses have no teeth, so what do they use to grind their food?
Heavily keratinised pads
Heavily keratinised pads. Young platypuses do grow a few molars, but these fall out about when they leave the burrow, and the horny pads take over.
Q 15Which internal organ does the platypus lack a functional version of?
A stomach
A stomach. The platypus has lost the genes for stomach acid and the enzyme pepsin, but a small pouch remains where the organ should be, so some biologists object to calling it stomachless.
Q 16How does a platypus's body temperature compare with a human's?
5 °C lower
5 °C lower. Low as that is, the platypus is no cold-blooded animal: it holds steady near 32 °C even after hours in near-freezing streams.
Q 17Roughly how much does an average male platypus weigh?
1.7 kg
1.7 kg. A platypus is only about half the size of a house cat, small enough that eagles, pythons and foxes all prey on it.
Q 18Platypus venom contains an unusually stable form of the hormone GLP-1, which researchers hope could improve treatments for what?
Type 2 diabetes
Type 2 diabetes. In people the hormone breaks down within minutes, but the platypus's version resists that breakdown, probably because it also has to work as an ingredient of the venom.
Q 19Wild platypuses are native to which part of Australia?
The east
The east. Platypuses thrive from steamy Queensland rainforest streams to icy Tasmanian highland lakes, yet they have never been found living naturally in the country's west or centre.
Q 20At its worst, how long can the pain from a platypus sting last in humans?
Months
Months. The venom is not known to kill people, but the pain is so stubborn that morphine does little for it, and doctors block the nerves instead.
With its front feet only. It rows with alternating strokes, which is why the front webbing spreads well past the claws, while the hind feet and tail just steer and brake.
Q 24In one study, how long did platypus dives last on average?
35 seconds
35 seconds. A platypus comes up as its oxygen runs low, chews its catch and breathes for 10 to 20 seconds, then dives again, for hours on end.
Q 25The dinosaur-age jaw of Steropodon, an early platypus relative, was preserved as which gemstone?
Opal
Opal. The jaw turned up at Lightning Ridge, an Australian mining town known for its black opal, where the gem had replaced the original bone and its three molar teeth.
Q 26When are wild platypuses most active?
From dusk until dawn
From dusk until dawn. A platypus hunts through the night, then sleeps the day away in a burrow dug into the riverbank.
Q 27A newly hatched platypus is about the size of what?
A lima bean
A lima bean. The hatchling is blind, hairless and helpless, and it lives on its mother's milk for three to four months before it can swim on its own.
Q 28A mother platypus lines her nest with what?
Wet leaves
Wet leaves. She carries them home tucked under her curled tail, and their damp is thought to keep the eggs and hatchlings from drying out.
Q 29A hatching platypus breaks out of its shell with the help of what?
An egg tooth
An egg tooth. The hatchling slits its shell from the inside with a small temporary tooth, helped by a bump on the tip of its snout, much as a chick does.
Q 30How does a mother platypus deliver milk to her young, given she has no teats?
Through pores in her skin
Through pores in her skin. The milk oozes onto two patches of fur on her belly, and the young lap it up from there.