Q 01/05

The platypus is one of only five living species in which group of mammals?

A) Marsupials

B) Placentals

C) Monotremes

D) Xenarthrans

Answer · why

C) Monotremes

Monotremes: the name means 'single opening', for the one passage these mammals use for eggs, urine and droppings alike.

Q 02/05

Which other animals are the only egg-laying mammals alive alongside the platypus?

A) Wombats

B) Numbats

C) Bandicoots

D) Echidnas

Answer · why

D) 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 03/05

What did some European scientists suspect the first platypus pelt sent from Australia to be?

A) A deformed duck

B) A young beaver

C) A stitched fake

D) A giant mole

Answer · why

C) 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 ...

Q 04/05

Which sense do platypuses use to find prey with their eyes, ears and nostrils shut underwater?

A) Echolocation

B) Electrolocation

C) Infrared vision

D) Magnetoreception

Answer · why

B) 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 str...

Q 05/05

Where is the male platypus's venomous spur located?

A) On the tip of the bill

B) On the tail

C) On each front foot

D) On each hind foot

Answer · why

D) 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.