How did such losses slip below the radar? Part of the reason is platypuses are shy, nocturnal creatures that are difficult to find and count, so not seeing them doesn’t stand out as strange. “I wouldn't be surprised if the numbers have halved or even more.” “There isn't a ton of great data, but the data we have suggests that our estimate of where that baseline is wrong,” says co-author Gilad Bino, a research fellow at the University of New South Wales. Now, some scientists think that’s an understatement. When the IUCN reassessed the platypus in 2016, the group estimated that populations have dropped by about 30 percent on average overall since Europeans arrived-enough to elevate the animal’s status to “near threatened.” “We’ve been monitoring platypus since 1995,” explains Tiana Preston, an environmental water resources planner for the Victoria state agency Melbourne Water, “and the decline is certainly evident.” ( Read more about how the venomous, egg-laying platypus evolved.) Then, as more and more data from long-term monitoring programs set up in the 1980s and ‘90s trickled in, the perception of the ever-stalwart platypus began to dim. Some scientists started sounding alarms of the platypus’ decline as early as the 1980s, but their warnings fell on deaf ears. Hawke co-authored a new study that surveyed centuries of historical data and suggests the platypus-found in rivers and streams throughout eastern Australia and Tasmania-has been plummeting in number, due to hunting, habitat loss, and climate change. “We have a huge area across the range of the platypus where we literally don't know if they're even there or in what numbers if they are.” Interestingly, the platypus is one of only two types of mammals (the other being the echidna) that lay eggs.įollow Joseph Castro on Twitter. ![]() The male will then insert his penis, which is hidden in his cloaca, into the female's cloaca for fertilization - this process can take up to 10 minutes, Thomas said.Īfter mating, the female will ignore all other mating attempts during that breeding season, and the male may go on to find other females to mate with. ![]() To copulate, the male will climb partially on to the female's back, and curl his tail under her abdomen to bring their respective cloaca (waste and reproductive orifice) close together. ![]() They will also engage in other aquatic courtship activities, such as diving, rolling sideways together and swimming near each other, sometimes for a few days before finally mating. "They will then swim in a circle," Thomas said. Until that point, she may hang out in the same area and feeding pond as the male, but won't allow him to make physical contact with her.Īfter the female has decided to accept her potential mate, she will allow him to bite on her tail and she will respond by biting on his tail. Males will try to court females by biting on the female's tail, but the female will flee if she's not ready. Females don't appear to be picky with their choice of mates, and probably assume that the male in their area is the biggest and strongest, Thomas said, adding that the female in the Healesville Sanctuary's captive breeding program will court and mate with any male presented to her.Īdult platypus pairs engage in a courtship ritualthat lasts several weeks and takes place up to six weeks before mating occurs. Little is known about what drives sexual selection in platypuses.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |