100 things challenge - 27: Monotremes

[birdienl]

There are some very weird animals in the world.... A few of these belong to the family of the Monotremes, an order of mammals which is singular for the fact that it lays eggs in stead of giving birth to life young. The most famous of these is no doubt the platypus, but also four species of echidnas or spiny ant eaters belong to the Monotremes.

Comments

[mystery_spell]

Very interesting, the platypus has always been a fascinating creature to me.

[msantimacassar]

How neat! Have you ever studied these animals in your work?

[birdienl]

No, I think you'd have to study in Australia for that... I did however recently read an article about the genome they sequenced for the Platypus and how it contained many genes they'd never seen before in any other mammal.

[msantimacassar]

Wow, that's cool!

[lunalove24]

Aaawwww! The platypus is my favourite animal - I fell completely in love with them, when I saw one in Melbourne Zoo.

[birdienl]

I can understand that, they're really cool! But now that I've been reading more about echnidas for this post, I think them very interesting as well!

[amaranthine3]

That's really interesting! I like reading articles or watching programs about animals, but I've never really read or watched anything about the Monotremes.

[birdienl]

I have my subscription to the wonderful magazine BBC Wildlife to thank for this and many of the other animals facts I post!