Editing Platypus (section)

{{Short description|Species of mammal}}
{{Other uses}}
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{{Use Australian English|date=February 2012}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2024}}
{{Speciesbox
| fossil_range = {{Fossil range/linked|Pliocene|Recent}}
| image = Duck-billed platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) Scottsdale.jpg
| image_caption = Platypus swimming in waters near [[Scottsdale, Tasmania]]
| status = NT
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name="iucn">{{cite iucn |author=Woinarski, J. |author2=Burbidge, A.A. |date=2016 |title=''Ornithorhynchus anatinus'' |volume=2016 |page=e.T40488A21964009 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T40488A21964009.en |access-date=19 November 2021}}</ref>
| taxon = Ornithorhynchus anatinus
| parent_authority = [[Johann Friedrich Blumenbach|Blumenbach]], 1800
| authority = ([[George Shaw (biologist)|Shaw]], 1799)
| synonyms = {{Species list
|''Platypus anatinus''| Shaw, 1799
|''Ornithorhynchus paradoxus''| Blumenbach, 1800
|''O. novaehollandiae''| [[Bernard Germain de Lacépède|Lacépède]], 1800
|''O. fuscus''| [[François Péron|Péron]], 1807
|''O. rufus''| Péron, 1807
|''O. paradoxi''| [[Johann Friedrich Meckel|Meckel]], 1826
|''O. crispus''| [[William MacGillivray|MacGillivray]], 1827
|''O. laevis''| MacGillivray, 1827
|''O. brevirostris''| [[William Ogilby|Ogilby]], 1832
|''O. agilis''| [[Charles Walter De Vis|de Vis]], 1886
|''O. phoxinus'' | [[Oldfield Thomas|O. Thomas]], 1923
|''O. triton'' | O. Thomas, 1923
}}
| synonyms_ref = <ref>{{GBIF |id=2433376 |taxon=''Ornithorhynchus anatinus'' |access-date=13 July 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Pasitschniak-Arts |first1=Maria |last2=Marinelli |first2=Lui |title=Ornithorhynchus anatinus |journal=Mammalian Species |date=1 June 1998 |issue=585 |pages=1–9 |doi=10.2307/3504433 |jstor=3504433 |url=https://academic.oup.com/mspecies/article/doi/10.2307/3504433/2600754 |access-date=15 October 2024}}</ref>
| range_map = Distribution of the Platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus).png
| range_map_caption = Platypus range{{break}}(red – native, yellow – introduced)
}}

The '''platypus''' ('''''Ornithorhynchus anatinus'''''), sometimes referred to as the '''duck-billed platypus''', is a [[semiaquatic]], egg-laying [[mammal]] endemic to [[Eastern states of Australia|eastern Australia]], including [[Tasmania]]. The platypus is the sole living representative or [[monotypic taxon]] of its [[Family (biology)|family]] [[Ornithorhynchidae]] and [[genus]] '''''Ornithorhynchus''''', though a number of [[Fossil Monotremes|related species]] appear in the fossil record.

Together with the four species of [[echidna]], it is one of the five [[wikt:extant|extant]] species of [[monotreme]]s, mammals that lay [[Egg (biology)|eggs]] instead of giving birth to live young. Like other monotremes, the platypus has a sense of [[electroreception|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 a [[spur (zoology)|spur]] on the hind foot that delivers an extremely painful [[Platypus venom|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 a recognisable and iconic symbol of [[Australia]]. It is culturally significant to several [[Aboriginal Australians|Aboriginal peoples]], who also used to hunt it for food. It has appeared as a national mascot, features on the [[Obverse and reverse|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 is not under severe threat, although [[captive breeding|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.