Thursday, December 8, 2016

Duck- Billed Platypus, the amazing primitive mammal

















Animals are gifts of Nature. They are closely associated with our daily life. Animals contribute a lot to our lives.  They provide us food, clothing, medicine and other economic needs. One of the most important functions of animals is to help disperse seeds and pollinate plants. Primates, for example, help to disperse seeds through the fruits they eat.
Bats help spread seeds and pollinate a variety of plants. Bees are the most important animals to plant ecosystems. Many crops rely almost entirely on bees to spread and pollinate, including almonds, avocados, apricots and peaches. Without bees, the planet would face the prospect of mass starvation.
Animals help maintain the Earth's natural environment by predating upon plants and other animals.  They exhale carbon dioxide, which green plants require to live. Animals help to fertilize plants via their droppings, which provide nutrition for plants. Once they die, animals also serve as food for microorganisms and supplement minerals for plants.
The animal under discussion is Duck billed Platypus. It is a semiaquatic egg laying mammal. They are a species of primitive mammals called monotremes.  Duck-billed Platypuses live in burrows and spend much of their time in freshwater ponds and streams. These animals make their homes in the freshwater areas that flow throughout the island of Tasmania and the eastern and south-eastern coast of Australia.

Platypuses are carnivores (meat-eaters) and they use their bills to strain their prey. They feed on crayfish, worms, insects, snails and shrimp from muddy water. As they swim, they try to detect food along the muddy bottom of the river, stream, pond or lake using their sensitive bills. They store their food in their cheek pouches while hunting in water and swim to the surface.











Platypuses are venomous mammals. The body of the animal is broad and has a flat tail. The entire body is covered with dense brown colour fur. The function of the brown coloured fur is to keep the body warm and will not wet the body when the animal is swimming under water. The tail is used for storage of fat reserves.  Their legs will spread outside the body and they crawl like lizards.
The animal has a webbed feet and has a large rubbery snout. The webbing are more significant on the front feet and are folded back when the animal is walking on land. The webbings on the front feet extend beyond the sides of the five toes and the end of the claws forming fan shaped paddles. When in water the animal propels itself with front feet rather than the hind feet.
The rubbery snout makes them appear like ducks. The snout is the sense organ with the mouth on the underside. Their nostrils are located on the dorsal surface of the snout. The eyes and ears are located in a groove set just back from it. This groove is closed when swimming. 

Their body weight varies from 700 grams to 2.4 kilograms.  Males are larger than the

females. Average length of males is 50 cms. Average length of females is 43 cms. 

Their average body temperature is 32 degree Celsius



Platypuses have the ability to make and receive electrical impulses. They communicate through electro reception. The electro receptors of the Platypus are located in rostro-caudal rows in the skin of the bill. The Platypus can determine the direction of an electric source, by comparing differences in signal strength across the sheet of electro receptors. When they are feeding by digging in the bottom of streams with its bill, the electro receptors could be used to distinguish live and dead objects. When disturbed, its prey would generate tiny electrical current which the sensitive electro receptors of the Platypus can detect. 


 The male platypuses have a hollow, horny spur on the inner side of each of the hind feet. The spur is connected to a gland at its base containing venomous secretion with which the animal may defend itself. The venom is produced in the crural glands of the male, which are kidney-shaped alveolar glands connected by a thin-walled duct to a calcaneal spur on each hind limb. The males produce the venom and production rises during the breeding season. It is thought that it is used as an offensive weapon to assert dominance during this period.
The constituent of the venom is proteins, unique to platypus. This venom acts as a defensive weapon against predators. This venom is capable of killing smaller animals but does not affect human beings. The effect of the venom is non-life threatening but nevertheless powerful enough to seriously impair the victim.













Treatment for diabetes is a great challenge to the medical fraternity. Till today no cure or no control of the disease is found. A few Australian Scientists have discovered that the venom of male platypus can be used in the treatment of type 2 diabetes. Their findings are as follows:
1.    Hormone produced in the gut of the platypus to regulate the blood glucose is also present in its venom.
2.    The hormone glucagon like peptide GLP-1 is normally secreted in the gut of both humans and animals.
3.      GLP-1 stimulate the release of insulin to lower the blood glucose.
4.    In people with type 2 diabetes a short stimulus triggered by GLP-1 is not sufficient to maintain the blood sugar level.
5.    Medication is required to release insulin to balance sugar level in the blood.
6.    The Australian scientists found out that in the male platypus, GLP-1 regulates the blood glucose level.

1.    The venom of the male platypus triggers the formation of stable GLP-1 in the system during the mating season.
2.    This stable GLP-1 molecule is the most needed in the treatment of type 2 diabetes which can be either extracted from the platypus gut or can be synthesized artificially.
3.    Further research is required to convert these findings into treatment for the type 2 diabetes.
Our Mother Earth is rich with animal and plant resources. We have to study all the plants and animals around us to find solution for our various problems. So let us start learning from Mother Nature as Mother Nature is the best teacher.
Courtesy:https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/11/161129114432.htm



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