Platypus

Ornithorhynchus anatinus · Ornithorhynchidae

The platypus, 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 of the family Ornithorhynchidae and genus Ornithorhynchus, though 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.

Where the Platypus lives

Recorded in Ashmore and Cartier Is. (Oceania).

Most records fall in New South Wales, Queensland, Tasmania, Victoria, Australian Capital Territory and South Australia.

See the Platypus’s range on the globe

Conservation status

Near threatened (NT). Not at risk yet, but could be soon. Categories are the IUCN Red List as republished by GBIF.

Sources

The range is a density of 25,006 georeferenced GBIF records, not an expert-drawn map. Description from Wikipedia.