918 sats \ 4 replies \ @0b1CoinObi 2 Feb \ on: Fun Fact Friday - Best Fun Fact Gets 10,000 Sats meta
Platypuses Sweat Milk
They secrete milk from specialised mammary glands, just like humans and other mammals. But platypuses don’t have teats, so the milk just oozes from the surface of their skin. This makes it look like sweat, but in fact platypuses are aquatic and don’t produce regular sweat at all.
Since this delivery system is less hygienic than the direct nipple-in-mouth method, platypus milk contains powerful antibacterial proteins to protect the babies from illness. These proteins may be a useful source of future antibiotics.
That is amazing, especially about the extra antibacterial properties, and also looks surprisingly cute!
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and the only mammal to lay eggs
One of two. The echidna is also a monotreme (although there are 4 species of echidna, while there's only 1 platypus species). All are endemic to the Australian continent (which includes New Guinea).
I've seen both echidnas and platypusses in the wild. Echidnas are cute. But seeing a platypus is quite magical. I can't remember each specific sighting but it's probably only been something like 2 to 4 times. The time I do remember well was quite an extended observation (the other sightings only glimpses).
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