Platypus

Ornithorhynchus anatinus, the platypus (Ornithorhynchidae), is the only living member of its family, named by Shaw in 1799. Males measure about 50 cm in total length and 1.7 kg, females about 43 cm and 0.9 kg; the paddle-shaped tail stores fat. The soft bill, about 6 cm long, carries some 40,000 electroreceptors used to locate prey while the eyes, ears and nostrils are closed. It is endemic to eastern Australian freshwaters from Queensland to Tasmania, taking aquatic invertebrates at 15–20% of body weight daily in dives averaging 35 seconds. IUCN rated it Near Threatened in 2016.