The platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) has a puzzling array of features. Not only does it have that iconic duck bill, it lays eggs like a bird or reptile but feeds milk to its young like a mammal.

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The sequencing of the platypus genome has received a high amount of misleading press attention. What does this information really tell us about this strangely unique animal and its genetic past?

Monotremes differ from other mammals because they lay eggs instead of giving birth. There are only five species of monotremes, and they include the platypus and four species of echidnas (spiny ...

The male echidna has five X chromosomes, but only four Y chromosomes, whereas the male platypus has five X and five Y). During production of sperm and eggs (meiosis), these sex chromosomes pair in ...

Most of the species that Ferdinand sketched in Australia were plants, but he also made drawings of the country's unique animals, such as the platypus. This egg-laying mammal intrigued Europeans when ...