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78-477: Duckbill may refer to: Platypus , Ornithorhynchus anatinus Duckbill dinosaurs, family Hadrosauridae Duckbill fishes, family Percophidae Duckbill eels, family Nettastomatidae Duckbill choke , a shotgun accessory Duckbill valve , a valve used to prevent back flow Duckbill (rock formation) , Oregon Duckbill mask See also [ edit ] Bird's beak Duck Topics referred to by

156-470: A calcaneus spur on each hind limb. The female platypus, in common with echidnas, has rudimentary spur buds that do not develop (dropping off before the end of their first year) and lack functional crural glands. Venom production rises among males during the breeding season, and it may be used to assert dominance. Similar spurs are found on many archaic mammal groups, indicating that this was an ancient general characteristic among mammals. Monotremes are

234-452: A polygynous mating system. Females are believed to become sexually mature in their second year, with breeding observed in animals over nine years old. During copulation , the male grasps the female's tail with his bill, wraps his tail around her, then grips her neck or shoulder, everts his penis through his cloaca, and inserts it into her urogenital sinus . He takes no part in nesting, living in his year-long resting burrow. After mating,

312-430: A spur on the hind foot that delivers an extremely painful venom . The unusual appearance of this egg-laying, duck -billed, beaver -tailed, otter -footed mammal at first baffled European naturalists. In 1799, the first scientists to examine a preserved platypus body judged it a fake made of several animals sewn together. The unique features of the platypus make it important in the study of evolutionary biology , and

390-441: A state as guarantor of the value: either as trustworthy guarantor of the kind and amount of metal in a coin , or as powerful guarantor of the continuing acceptance of token coins . Traditionally, most states have been monarchies where the person of the monarch and the state were equivalent for most purposes. For this reason, the obverse side of a modern piece of currency is the one that evokes that reaction by invoking

468-431: A book or other paper document. The obverse is usually assumed to be the side visible when the hoist , the edge attached to the mast , is on the viewer's left and the opposite fly side to their right, while the reverse is the side visible with the hoist on the right and the fly on the left. Most flags reversed feature a mirror copy of the obverse, a format accommodated by most flag manufacturers. The flag of Saudi Arabia

546-431: A chicken egg, which spends about one day in tract and 21 days externally). The female curls around the incubating eggs, which develop in three phases. In the first, the embryo has no functional organs and relies on the yolk sac for sustenance, until the sac is absorbed. During the second phase, the digits develop, and in the last phase, the egg tooth appears. At first, European naturalists could hardly believe that

624-449: A distinctive lower molar tooth row was previously present in its lineage for over 95 million years. Even its closest relative, Obdurodon , which otherwise closely resembles the platypus, retained this tooth row. More recent studies indicate that this tooth loss was a geologically very recent event, occurring only around the Plio - Pleistocene (around 2.5 million years ago), when the rakali ,

702-460: A flag. In fields of scholarship outside numismatics, the term front is more commonly used than obverse , while usage of reverse is widespread. The equivalent terms used in codicology , manuscript studies , print studies and publishing are "recto" and "verso" . Generally, the side of a coin with the larger-scale image will be called the obverse (especially if the image is a single head) and, if that does not serve to distinguish them,

780-552: A head of Christ became the obverse and a head or portrait (half or full-length) of the emperor became considered the reverse. The introduction of this style in the gold coins of Justinian II from the year 695 provoked the Islamic Caliph , Abd al-Malik , who previously had copied Byzantine designs, replacing Christian symbols with Islamic equivalents, finally to develop a distinctive Islamic style , with just lettering on both sides of their coins. This script alone style then

858-426: A large optic tectum , suggesting that the visual midbrain plays a more important role than the visual cortex , as in some rodents. These features suggest that the platypus has adapted to an aquatic and nocturnal lifestyle, developing its electrosensory system at the cost of its visual system. This contrasts with the small number of electroreceptors in the short-beaked echidna , which dwells in dry environments, while

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936-451: A large semiaquatic rodent , colonized Australia from New Guinea . The platypus, which previously fed on a wide array of hard and soft-bodied prey, was outcompeted by the rakali over hard-bodied prey such as crayfish and mussels. This competition may have selected for the loss of teeth in the platypus and their replacement by horny pads, as a way of specializing for softer-bodied prey, which the rakali did not compete with it over. Because of

1014-503: A nesting platypus was filmed inside the recently reopened sanctuary. There is a population on Kangaroo Island introduced in the 1920s, said to stand at 150 individuals in the Rocky River region of Flinders Chase National Park . In the 2019–20 Australian bushfire season , large portions of the island burnt, decimating wildlife. However, SA Department for Environment and Water recovery teams worked to reinstate their habitat, with

1092-419: A number of related species appear in the fossil record. Together with the four species of echidna , it is one of the five extant species of monotremes , mammals that lay eggs instead of giving birth to live young. Like other monotremes, the platypus has a sense of electrolocation , which it uses to detect prey in cloudy water. It is one of the few species of venomous mammals , as the male platypus has

1170-598: A number of sightings reported by April 2020. The platypus is no longer found in the main Murray–Darling Basin , possibly due to declining water quality from land clearing and irrigation although it is found in the Goulburn River in Victoria. Along the coastal river systems, its distribution is unpredictable: absent in some relatively healthy rivers, but present in some quite degraded ones, for example

1248-500: A recognisable and iconic symbol of Australia . It is culturally significant to several Aboriginal peoples , who also used to hunt it for food. It has appeared as a national mascot, features on the reverse of the Australian twenty-cent coin , and is an emblem of the state of New South Wales . The platypus was hunted for its fur, but it has been a legally protected species in all states where it occurs since 1912. Its population

1326-405: A symbol of the state, usually their patron goddess or her symbol, which remained constant through all of the coins minted by that state, which is regarded as the obverse of those coins. The opposite side may have varied from time to time. In ancient Greek monarchical coinage, the situation continued whereby a larger image of a deity , is called the obverse, but a smaller image of a monarch appears on

1404-660: Is larila . When the platypus was first encountered by Europeans in 1798, a pelt and sketch were sent back to Great Britain by Captain John Hunter , the second Governor of New South Wales . British scientists' initial hunch was that the attributes were a hoax. George Shaw , who produced the first description of the animal in the Naturalist's Miscellany in 1799, stated it was impossible not to entertain doubts as to its genuine nature, and Robert Knox believed it might have been produced by some Asian taxidermist . It

1482-447: Is an exception to both conventions, with a right-hoisted ("sinister" [REDACTED] ) obverse and an equal reverse to correctly arrange the calligraphic Shahada on both sides. Truly two-sided flags include the flag of Paraguay and the flag of Oregon , but are otherwise rare in the modern day. Some national flag protocols include provisions for when and how the reverse should be displayed. The United States flag code states that

1560-404: Is composed largely of defensin -like proteins (DLPs) produced by the immune system, three of which are unique to the platypus. In other animals, defensins kill pathogenic bacteria and viruses, but in platypuses they are also collected into a venom against predators. Venom is produced in the crural glands of the male, which are kidney-shaped alveolar glands connected by a thin-walled duct to

1638-502: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Animal common name disambiguation pages Platypus The platypus ( Ornithorhynchus anatinus ), sometimes referred to as the duck-billed platypus , is a semiaquatic , egg-laying mammal endemic to eastern Australia , including Tasmania . The platypus is the sole living representative or monotypic taxon of its family Ornithorhynchidae and genus Ornithorhynchus , though

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1716-406: Is incorrect. In fact, modern monotremes are the survivors of an early branching of the mammal tree, and a later branching is thought to have led to the marsupial and placental groups. Molecular clock and fossil dating suggest platypuses split from echidnas around 19–48   million years ago. The oldest discovered fossil of the modern platypus dates back to about 100,000 years ago during

1794-475: Is not under severe threat, although captive-breeding programs have had slight success, and it is vulnerable to pollution. It is classified as a near-threatened species by the IUCN , but a November 2020 report has recommended that it be upgraded to threatened species under the federal EPBC Act , due to habitat destruction and declining numbers in all states. Australian Aboriginal people name or have named

1872-467: Is specifically called the "duck-billed platypus". The scientific name Ornithorhynchus anatinus literally means 'duck-like bird-snout', deriving its genus name from the Greek root ornith- ( όρνιθ ornith or ὄρνις órnīs 'bird') and the word rhúnkhos ( ῥύγχος 'snout', 'beak'). Its species name is derived from Latin anatinus ('duck-like') from anas 'duck'. The platypus

1950-402: Is the sole living representative or monotypic taxon of its family (Ornithorhynchidae). In David Collins 's account of the new colony 1788–1801, he describes "an amphibious animal, of the mole species", with a drawing. The body and the broad, flat tail of the platypus are covered with dense, brown, biofluorescent fur that traps a layer of insulating air to keep the animal warm. The fur

2028-471: Is waterproof, and textured like that of a mole . The platypus's tail stores fat reserves, an adaptation also found in the Tasmanian devil . Webbing is more significant on the front feet, which in land walking are folded up in knuckle-walking to protect the webbing. The elongated snout and lower jaw are covered in soft skin, forming the bill. The nostrils are located on the snout's dorsal surface, while

2106-455: The Linnaean name Platypus anatinus when he described it, but the genus term was quickly discovered to already be in use as the name of the wood-boring ambrosia beetle genus Platypus . It was independently described as Ornithorhynchus paradoxus by Johann Blumenbach in 1800 (from a specimen given to him by Sir Joseph Banks ) and following the rules of priority of nomenclature, it

2184-610: The Quaternary period, though a limb bone of Ornithorhynchus is known from Pliocene -aged strata. The extinct monotremes Teinolophos and Steropodon from the Cretaceous were once thought to be closely related to the modern platypus, but are now considered more basal taxa. The fossilised Steropodon was discovered in New South Wales and is composed of an opalised lower jawbone with three molar teeth (whereas

2262-549: The Six Kalimas (the Islamic profession of faith) is usually defined as the obverse. A convention exists typically to display the obverse to the left (or above) and the reverse to the right (or below) in photographs and museum displays, but this is not invariably observed. The form of currency follows its function, which is to serve as a readily accepted medium of exchange of value . Normally, this function rests on

2340-409: The abbreviation obv. is used for obverse , while ℞, )( and rev. are used for reverse . Vexillologists use the symbols "normal" [REDACTED] for the obverse and "reverse" [REDACTED] for the reverse. The "two-sided" [REDACTED] , "mirror" [REDACTED] , and "equal" [REDACTED] symbols are further used to describe the relationship between the obverse and reverse sides of

2418-510: The long-beaked echidna , which lives in moist environments, is intermediate between the other two monotremes. In 2020, research revealed that platypus fur gives a bluish-green biofluorescent glow in black light . The platypus is semiaquatic, inhabiting small streams and rivers over an extensive range from the cold highlands of Tasmania and the Australian Alps to the tropical rainforests of coastal Queensland as far north as

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2496-400: The 19th century myths that grew up around them – for example, that the monotremes were "inferior" or quasireptilian  – still endure. In 1947, William King Gregory theorised that placental mammals and marsupials may have diverged earlier, and a subsequent branching divided the monotremes and marsupials, but later research and fossil discoveries have suggested this

2574-513: The Britains' – that is, Britain and its dominions) and, before 1949, IND[IAE] IMP[ERATOR] (' Emperor of India '). The United States specifies what appears on the obverse and reverse of its currency. The specifications mentioned here imply the use of all upper-case letters, although they appear here in upper and lower case letters for the legibility of the article. The United States government long adhered to including all of

2652-634: The State Arms, as on its earlier issues. In Japan, from 1897 to the end of World War II , the following informal conventions existed: The Chrysanthemum Crest was no longer used after the war, and so (equally informally): Following ancient tradition, the obverse of coins of the United Kingdom (and predecessor kingdoms going back to the Middle Ages ) almost always feature the head of the monarch. By tradition, each British monarch faces in

2730-448: The X chromosomes of the platypus has great homology to the bird Z chromosome. The platypus genome also has both reptilian and mammalian genes associated with egg fertilisation. Though the platypus lacks the mammalian sex-determining gene SRY , a study found that the mechanism of sex determination is the AMH gene on the oldest Y chromosome . A draft version of the platypus genome sequence

2808-474: The adult contemporary platypus is toothless). The molar teeth were initially thought to be tribosphenic , which would have supported a variation of Gregory's theory, but later research has suggested, while they have three cusps, they evolved under a separate process. The fossil jaw of Teinolophos is thought to be about 110   million years old, making it the oldest mammal fossil found in Australia. Unlike

2886-435: The animal's head while hunting. It may also be able to determine the distance of moving prey from the time lag between their electrical and mechanical pressure pulses. Monotreme electrolocation for hunting in murky waters may be tied to their tooth loss. The extinct Obdurodon was electroreceptive, but unlike the modern platypus it foraged pelagically (near the ocean surface). In recent studies it has been suggested that

2964-695: The base of the Cape York Peninsula . Inland, its distribution is not well known. It was considered extinct on the South Australian mainland, with the last sighting recorded at Renmark in 1975. In the 1980s, John Wamsley created a platypus breeding program in Warrawong Sanctuary (see below ), which subsequently closed. In 2017 there were some unconfirmed sightings downstream from the sanctuary, and in October 2020

3042-597: The bones show osteosclerosis , increasing their density to provide ballast. The platypus jaw is constructed differently from that of other mammals, and the jaw-opening muscle is different. Modern platypus young have three teeth in each of the maxillae (one premolar and two molars ) and dentaries (three molars), which they lose before or just after leaving the breeding burrow; adults instead develop heavily keratinised food-grinding pads called ceratodontes . The first upper and third lower cheek teeth of platypus nestlings are small, each having one principal cusp, while

3120-423: The burrow to remain dry. After about five weeks, the mother begins to spend more time away from her young, and at around four months, the young emerge from the burrow. A platypus is born with teeth, but these drop out at a very early age, leaving the horny plates it uses to grind food. Platypus Echidnas Marsupials Eutherians The platypus and other monotremes were very poorly understood, and some of

3198-463: The coin value) is the reverse . This rule does not apply to the collector coins as they do not have a common side. A number of the designs used for obverse national sides of euro coins were taken from the reverse of the nations' former pre-euro coins. Several countries (such as Spain and Belgium ) continue to use portraits of the reigning monarch, while the Republic of Ireland continues to use

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3276-576: The early divergence from the therian mammals and the low numbers of extant monotreme species, the platypus is a frequent subject of research in evolutionary biology. In 2004, researchers at the Australian National University discovered the platypus has ten sex chromosomes , compared with two (XY) in most other mammals. These ten chromosomes form five unique pairs of XY in males and XX in females, i.e. males are X 1 Y 1 X 2 Y 2 X 3 Y 3 X 4 Y 4 X 5 Y 5 . One of

3354-437: The egg's cytoplasm, allowing the yolk and embryo to exchange waste and nutrients with the egg through the cytoplasm. Young platypus are called "puggles". Newly hatched platypuses are vulnerable, blind, and hairless, and are fed by the mother's milk, that provides all the requirements for growth and development. The platypus's mammary glands lack teats, with milk released through pores in the skin. The milk pools in grooves on

3432-400: The eyes and ears are just behind the snout in a groove which closes underwater. Platypuses can give a low growl when disturbed, and a range of vocalisations have been reported in captivity. Size varies considerably in different regions, with average weight from 0.7 to 2.4 kg (1 lb 9 oz to 5 lb 5 oz); males have average length 50 cm (20 in), while females are

3510-410: The eyes of the platypus are more similar to those of Pacific hagfish or Northern Hemisphere lampreys than to those of most tetrapods. The eyes also contain double cones , unlike most mammals. Although the platypus's eyes are small and not used under water, several features indicate that vision was important for its ancestors. The corneal surface and the adjacent surface of the lens is flat, while

3588-646: The female constructs a deep, elaborate nesting burrow up to 20 m (65 ft) long. She tucks fallen leaves and reeds underneath her curled tail, dragging them to the burrow to soften the tunnel floor with folded wet leaves, and to line the nest at the end with bedding. The female has two ovaries , but only the left one is functional. She lays one to three (usually two) small, leathery eggs (similar to those of reptiles), about 11 mm ( 7 ⁄ 16  in) in diameter and slightly rounder than bird eggs. The eggs develop in utero for about 28 days, with only about 10 days of external incubation (in contrast to

3666-411: The female platypus lays eggs, but this was finally confirmed by William Hay Caldwell in 1884. Most mammal zygotes go through holoblastic cleavage, splitting into multiple divisible daughter cells. However, monotremes like the platypus, along with reptiles and birds , undergo meroblastic cleavage, in which the ovum does not split completely. The cells at the edge of the yolk remain continuous with

3744-473: The few marginal surviving monotreme species, rather than a general characteristic of past monotremes. In addition to laying eggs, the anatomy, ontogeny , and genetics of monotremes shows traces of similarity to reptiles and birds. The platypus has a reptilian gait with legs on the sides of the body, rather than underneath. The platypus's genes are a possible evolutionary link between the mammalian XY and bird/reptile ZW sex-determination systems, as one of

3822-409: The following: The ten-year series of Statehood quarters , whose issue began in 1999, was seen as calling for more space and more flexibility in the design of the reverse. A law specific to this series and the corresponding time period permits the following: In vexillology , the obverse of a flag is the side taken as the default illustration of a flag, for example the side used to display a design in

3900-473: The late Oligocene to the Miocene of Australia. It closely resembled the modern platypus, aside from the presence of molar teeth. A fossilised tooth of the giant platypus Obdurodon tharalkooschild was dated 5–15   million years ago. Judging by the tooth, the animal measured 1.3 metres long, making it the largest platypus on record. The loss of teeth in the modern platypus has long been enigmatic, as

3978-489: The lower Maribyrnong . In captivity, platypuses have survived to 30 years of age, and wild specimens have been recaptured when 24 years old. Mortality rates for adults in the wild appear to be low. Natural predators include snakes , water rats , goannas , hawks , owls , and eagles . Low platypus numbers in northern Australia are possibly due to predation by crocodiles . The introduction of red foxes in 1845 for sport hunting may have had some impact on its numbers on

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4056-435: The mainland. The platypus is generally nocturnal and crepuscular , but can be active on overcast days. Its habitat bridges rivers and the riparian zone , where it finds both prey and river banks to dig resting and nesting burrows. It may have a range of up to 7 km (4.3 mi), with a male's home range overlapping those of three or four females. The platypus is an excellent swimmer and spends much of its time in

4134-575: The modern platypus (and echidnas ), Teinolophos lacked a beak. In 2024, Late Cretaceous ( Cenomanian )-aged fossil specimens of actual early platypus relatives were recovered from the same rocks as Steropodon , including the basal Opalios and the more derived Dharragarra , the latter of which may be the oldest member of the platypus stem -lineage, as it retains the same dental formula found in Cenozoic platypus relatives. Monotrematum and Patagorhynchus , two other fossil relatives of

4212-433: The mother's abdomen, allowing the young to lap it up. After they hatch, the offspring are milk-fed for three to four months. During incubation and weaning, the mother initially leaves the burrow only for short periods to forage. She leaves behind her a number of thin soil plugs along the length of the burrow, possibly to protect the young from predators; pushing past these on her return squeezes water from her fur and allows

4290-557: The obverse of coins as a god-king , at least partly because he thought this would help secure the allegiance of the Egyptians, who had regarded their previous monarchs, the pharaohs , as divine. The various Hellenistic rulers who were his successors followed his tradition and kept their images on the obverse of coins. A movement back to the earlier tradition of a deity being placed on the obverse occurred in Byzantine coinage , where

4368-565: The only mammals (apart from the Guiana dolphin ) known to have a sense of electroreception , and the platypus's electroreception is the most sensitive of any monotreme. Feeding by neither sight nor smell, the platypus closes its eyes, ears, and nose when it dives. Digging in the bottom of streams with its bill, its electroreceptors detect tiny electric currents generated by the muscular contractions of its prey, enabling it to distinguish between animate and inanimate objects. Experiments have shown

4446-692: The opposite direction of his or her predecessor; this is said to date from 1661, with Charles II turning his back on Oliver Cromwell . Hence, George VI faced left and Elizabeth II faced right. The only break in this tradition almost occurred in 1936 when Edward VIII , believing his left side to be superior to his right (to show the parting in his hair), insisted on his image facing left, as his father's image had. No official legislation prevented his wishes being granted, so left-facing obverses were prepared for minting. Very few examples were struck before he abdicated later that year, and none bearing this portrait were ever issued officially. When George VI acceded to

4524-641: The other side which is called the reverse. In a Western monarchy , it has been customary, following the tradition of the Hellenistic monarchs and then the Roman emperors , for the currency to bear the head of the monarch on one side, which is almost always regarded as the obverse. This change happened in the coinage of Alexander the Great , which continued to be minted long after his death. After his conquest of ancient Egypt , he allowed himself to be depicted on

4602-504: The other teeth have two main cusps. While both male and female platypuses are born with back ankle spurs, only the males' deliver venom. It is powerful enough to kill smaller animals such as dogs, and though it is not lethal to humans, it can inflict weeks of agony. Edema rapidly develops around the wound and gradually spreads through the affected limb, and it may develop into an excruciating hyperalgesia (heightened sensitivity to pain) persisting for days or even months. The venom

4680-462: The platypus feels electric fields like touches. These receptors in the bill dominate the somatotopic map of the platypus brain, in the same way human hands dominate the Penfield homunculus map . The platypus can feel the direction of an electric source, perhaps by comparing differences in signal strength across the sheet of electroreceptors, enhanced by the characteristic side-to-side motion of

4758-848: The platypus in various ways depending on Australian indigenous languages and dialects . Among the names found: boondaburra , mallingong , tambreet , watjarang (names in Yass , Murrumbidgee , and Tumut ), tohunbuck (region of Goomburra , Darling Downs ), dulaiwarrung ou dulai warrung ( Woiwurrung language, Wurundjeri , Victoria ), djanbang ( Bundjalung , Queensland ), djumulung ( Yuin language, Yuin , New South Wales ), maluŋgaŋ (ngunnawal language, Ngunnawal , Australian Capital Territory ), biladurang , wamul , dyiimalung , oornie , dungidany ( Wiradjuri language, Wiradjuri , Vic , NSW ), oonah , etc. The name chosen and approved in Palawa kani (reconstructed tasmanian language)

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4836-453: The platypus will even react to an "artificial shrimp" if a small electric current is passed through it. The electroreceptors are located in rostrocaudal rows in the skin of the bill, while mechanoreceptors for touch are uniformly distributed across the bill. The electrosensory area of the cerebral cortex is in the tactile somatosensory area, and some cortical cells receive input from both electroreceptors and mechanoreceptors, suggesting

4914-580: The platypus's five X chromosomes contains the DMRT1 gene, which birds possess on their Z chromosome. As in all true mammals, the tiny bones that conduct sound in the middle ear are fully incorporated into the skull, rather than lying in the jaw as in pre-mammalian synapsids . However, the external opening of the ear still lies at the base of the jaw. The platypus has extra bones in the shoulder girdle, including an interclavicle not found in other mammals. As in many other aquatic and semiaquatic vertebrates ,

4992-400: The platypus, are known from the latest Cretaceous ( Maastrichtian ) and the mid- Paleocene of Argentina , indicating that some monotremes managed to colonize South America from Australia when the two continents were connected via Antarctica . These are also considered potential members of the platypus stem-lineage. The closest fossil relative of the platypus was Obdurodon , known from

5070-439: The posterior surface of the lens is steeply curved, similar to the eyes of other aquatic mammals such as otters and sea-lions. A temporal (ear side) concentration of retinal ganglion cells , important for binocular vision, indicates a vestigial role in predation , though the actual visual acuity is insufficient for such activities. Limited acuity is matched by low cortical magnification , a small lateral geniculate nucleus , and

5148-419: The riverbed with its snout or catches while swimming. It carries prey to the surface in cheek-pouches before eating it. It eats about 20% of its own weight each day, which requires it to spend an average of 12 hours daily looking for food. The species has a single breeding season between June and October, with some local variation. Investigations have found both resident and transient platypuses, and suggest

5226-458: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Duckbill . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Duckbill&oldid=1038397333 " Categories : Disambiguation pages Fish common name disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description

5304-556: The side that is more typical of a wide range of coins from that location will be called the obverse. Following this principle, in the most famous of ancient Greek coins , the tetradrachm of Athens, the obverse is the head of Athena and the reverse is her owl. Similar versions of these two images, both symbols of the state, were used on the Athenian coins for more than two centuries. In the many republics of ancient Greece, such as Athens or Corinth , one side of their coins would have

5382-431: The smaller at 43 cm (17 in). This variation does not seem to follow any particular climatic rule and may be due to other factors such as predation and human encroachment. The platypus has an average body temperature of about 32 °C (90 °F), lower than the 37 °C (99 °F) typical of placental mammals . Research suggests this has been a gradual adaptation to harsh environmental conditions among

5460-482: The state's territory. Regarding the euro , some confusion regarding the obverse and reverse of the euro coins exists. Officially, as agreed by the informal Economic and Finance Ministers Council of Verona in April 1996, and despite the fact that a number of countries have a different design for each coin, the distinctive national side for the circulation coins is the obverse and the common European side (which includes

5538-400: The strength of the state, and that side almost always depicts a symbol of the state, whether it be the monarch or otherwise. If not provided for on the obverse, the reverse side usually contains information relating to a coin's role as a medium of exchange (such as the value of the coin). Additional space typically reflects the issuing country's culture or government, or evokes some aspect of

5616-417: The surface between dives. The platypus rests in a short, straight burrow in the riverbank about 30 cm (12 in) above water level, its oval entrance-hole often hidden under a tangle of roots. It may sleep up to 14 hours per day, after half a day of diving. The platypus is a carnivore , feeding on annelid worms, insect larvae , freshwater shrimp , and yabby ( crayfish ) that it digs out of

5694-548: The throne, his image was placed to face left, implying that, had any coins been minted with Edward's portrait the obverses would have depicted Edward facing right and maintained the tradition. Current UK coinage features the following abbreviated Latin inscription: D[EI] G[RATIA] REX F[IDEI] D[EFENSOR] (' By the Grace of God King, Defender of the Faith '). Earlier issues, before 1954, included BRIT[ANNIARUM] OMN[IUM] ('of all

5772-505: The water foraging for food. It has a swimming style unique among mammals, propelling itself by alternate strokes of the front feet, while the webbed hind feet are held against the body and only used for steering, along with the tail. It can maintain its relatively low body temperature of about 32   °C (90   °F) while foraging for hours in water below 5   °C (41   °F). Dives normally last around 30 seconds, with an estimated aerobic limit of 40 seconds, with 10 to 20 seconds at

5850-553: Was later officially recognised as Ornithorhynchus anatinus . There is no universally agreed plural form of "platypus" in the English language. Scientists generally use "platypuses" or simply "platypus". Alternatively, the term "platypi" is also used for the plural, although this is a form of pseudo-Latin ; going by the word's Greek roots the plural would be "platypodes". Early British settlers called it by many names, such as "watermole", "duckbill", and "duckmole". Occasionally it

5928-507: Was published in Nature on 8   May 2008, revealing both reptilian and mammalian elements, as well as two genes found previously only in birds, amphibians, and fish. More than 80% of the platypus's genes are common to the other mammals whose genomes have been sequenced. An updated genome, the most complete on record, was published in 2021, together with the genome of the short-beaked echidna . Obverse and reverse In numismatics ,

6006-460: Was thought that somebody had sewn a duck's beak onto the body of a beaver-like animal. Shaw even took a pair of scissors to the dried skin to check for stitches. The common name "platypus" literally means 'flat-foot', deriving from the Greek word platúpous ( πλατύπους ), from platús ( πλατύς 'broad, wide, flat') and poús ( πούς 'foot'). Shaw initially assigned the species

6084-574: Was used on nearly all Islamic coinage until the modern period. The type of Justinian II was revived after the end of the Byzantine Iconoclasm , and with variations remained the norm until the end of the Empire. Without images, therefore, it is not always easy to tell which side will be regarded as the obverse without some knowledge. After 695, Islamic coins avoided all images of persons and usually contained script alone. The side expressing

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