Compiled: Mintina
The new dam puts platypus at risk
Photo courtesy of Shutterstock
The platypus, an animal often presented as a glimmer of humor shown by God, is facing an uncertain future – and that's no joke.
The construction of dams in Australia and Tasmania, the only natural habitat for these species, is beginning to have an impact on animal genetic diversity, according to research published last week. The dam prevents platypus from migrating, resulting in inbreeding among a large number of animals.
Over the past two years, the study authors looked at platypus living in rivers with and without dams. Without dams, the genetic diversity of platypus in rivers is 4 to 20 times greater than that of animals present in dam waters.
Although the dam did not destroy the platypus' living area, the structures apparently hindered the process of adaptation and crossbreeding, the report reads.
As platypus sometimes walk on land around the dam, this exposes the animals to greater threats from foxes, night owls and dog-like hunting.
"With species lacking migration, the number of groups is small, and genetic diversity between each population declines rapidly," Luis Mijangos, a research fellow at the University of New South Wales in Australia and author of the report, told The New York Times. "If there are beneficial mutated genes that allow individuals to adapt to the climate, those mutations cannot benefit other groups."
Ultraviolet light illuminates the platypus' color. Scientists don't understand why
Photo courtesy of Jonathan Martin/Northland College
The mystery of the platypus
As a species, platypus always seems too strange to be considered a real animal.
According to the Natural History Museum in London, the first platypus specimen was brought to England from Australia in the nineteenth century, and many believe it was a forged animal. The British thought it was more likely that someone had sewn ducks and moles together.
But the uniqueness of the platypus is not just about its appearance. Many people know that this is the only mammal in the world that lays eggs (along with the echidna tooth), and other aspects of the animal are different.
This is one of the few mammals that secretes venom. Males have stingers on each hind foot. According to the Australian Platypus Academy, researchers believe that alone helps males gain an edge in competing for mates.
Their limbs are long on the sides of their bodies, like lizards, but unlike most mammals. Platypus sense prey through the detection of electric fields by detectors in their duckbills. They can only pass through the pores of the skin and not feed their pups as mammals usually do. Without teeth, platypus chews food with a tongue plate formed by keratin - a substance contained in human nails and hair.
If that's not enough, in 2020, scientists discovered that species glow. Exposing their skin to ultraviolet light, these strange mammals exhibit a blue-green glow. Scientists don't know why.
"I was a little dumbfounded [to see] the platypus glow," Paula Anich, lead author of the report, told National Geographic, especially since it was already "such a unique animal." ”
A platypus swims through a river in Tasmania
Photo courtesy of Shutterstock
Can platypus survive?
Australian officials stopped plans to build the dam without considering the platypus population. As a result, biologists are concerned about the survival of the species.
"As far as I know," Dr. Mijangos told The New York Times, "the Australian government has not tried to reduce the impact of the dam on platypus." ”
WWF Australia is running a project in Sydney to restore wild platypus populations in Royal National Park. But as WWF is planning other future rewilding projects, none of them have anything to do with the dam.
Although platypus are not theoretically endangered, the Australian Conservation Fund considers them at risk of extinction. Their living area is 22% smaller than in the past 30 years. This is three times the size of Tasmania.
Still, the scientific language of last week's report on the dam was clear, and researchers wanted to live in a world where platypus still existed.
"The uniqueness, scarcity and evolution of the platypus make it one of the most irreplaceable mammals in the world," the report reads.
Source: Andrew McLemore