Some time ago, KFC launched one of the matching toys of the Children's Day package, The Duck can be described as a popular network, and the picture of "a duck is difficult to find" can be seen everywhere in the social circle.
Why does The Duck suddenly become popular? In addition to the help of the head anchor and the matching of the short video soundtrack, there is also the most important point, which can carry many childhood memories of the post-80s and post-90s, and carry the emotional appeals of many people.
So at this time, the duck is not just a duck, it is more like a symbol of memory, so people like it and pursue it.
However, in real life, the prototype of the duck, the platypus, is not so good.
Platypus, whose scientific name is Ornithorhynchus anatinus, and whose English name is Platypus, belongs to the family Platypus (only this species of platypus), is an amphibian mammal that breathes through the lungs and lives only in the humid regions of eastern Australia and Tasmania.
In general, adult platypuses are 40-50 cm long, with females weighing 0.7-1.6 kg and males between 1-2 kg.
When the British naturalist George Shaw first saw the platypus specimen from Australia in 1789, he thought it was an elaborate prank, a specimen stitched together in parts of other animals.
When he picked up the scissors and tried to take apart the prank himself to find the patchwork traces, he found that the specimen was flawless, and there was no trace of sewing at all.
Only then did he realize that this specimen had originally looked like this!
A duck-like mouth, an otter-like body, a beaver-like tail, goose-like webbed feet, mole-like eyes.
You say it looks casual, but who would have thought of such a careful collocation?
If it is said that it looks exquisite, this god-like creative appearance really has nothing to do with refinement.
Most mammals on Earth are born and breastfed, but a small number of them still retain the act of egg-laying, that is, "egg-born breastfeeding", which belongs to the "monotreme" family, and there are 5 species of animals of this type that still survive, and platypus is one of them.
The extant "monotreme" family of animals: platypus, Tachyglossus aculeatus, Zaglossus attenboroughi, Zaglossus attenboroughi, Zaglossus bartoni in the east, and Zaglossus bruijni in the west.
Platypus reproduces by laying eggs, which are only 1 cm in diameter and are soft-shelled leathery.
Curiously, though, platypus doesn't have a mammal, so how does it breastfeed?
It turns out that the female platypus's lactates are hidden on either side of her body's abdomen, and the platypus cubs suck up milk by licking their abdomen.
✪ Electrical induction capability
Pikachu's ability to discharge electricity is well known, but I didn't expect that in reality, platypus actually has electrical induction ability!
This secret is hidden in its mask-like mouth!
Its beak is very flat and wide, somewhat leather-like, and is covered with 40,000 electrical receptors and 60,000 tactile receptors, which combine to help the platypus easily detect the electric field emitted by its underwater prey.
✪ Deeply poisoned
While the platypus looks cute, the male platypus will have a hollow spine on the back of its knee that releases toxins through a small barb under the soles of its feet if it pokes at an enemy with its hind limbs.
The more interesting finding is that the toxin of the platypus has even been found in other animals, and up to 83 different toxin genes can be classified into 13 completely different gene families. There are only 3 toxins, which are unique to the platypus itself.
Scientists believe that in addition to being used for self-defense, the venom of platypus will be used more in courtship activities, and this venom will be secreted when competing for a partner, and the two sides will "poison" each other, and whoever persists until the end is not put down can win. This venom is enough to cause inflammation, muscle contraction, blood clotting, and even death in platypus prey.
Although it is rarely fatal to humans, and there have been no previous cases of death due to platypus venom, it can also cause severe pain in humans for several months.
✪ No stomach, no teeth
Platypus are semi-aquatic animals, the purpose of the water is to forage, each time in the water can only stay for about 30 seconds, it will be out of the water surface ventilation, so their predation speed to pursue "fast and accurate".
Platypus is a carnivorous animal, feeding mainly on insects, mollusks, worms, etc., and occasionally eats small fish and shrimp, turtles for a change of taste.
Surprisingly, it didn't even have a stomach and teeth.
So how does it eat and digest?
Platypus chews food, relying entirely on its mouth, that is, its upper and lower jaws, to crush food, and sometimes they will swallow stones and use the rubble to help them crush the food until it is thin, promoting digestion.
Because they do not need to use the stomach to digest the food they are responsible for, they gradually lose their stomach in the process of evolution, and they can digest food by using the connection between their intestines and esophagus.
In the more than 200 years since its discovery, the platypus has been declining in number and has been listed by the IUCN as a "near-threatened species" on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Platypus has never gone extinct for hundreds of millions of years, and has rarely evolved, and I hope that in the future, the earth can still see cute platypus.