Platypus Genome Decoded

TaeKwonDood writes "Is it reptile, bird or mammal? Some of each. Does it have venom, lay eggs and lactate? Yes. Upon discovery in 1798, fellow scientists thought it was for an episode of 'Thou hast been Punk'd,' but this Australia native, on home on land and in water, is real and, finally, it gets its own decoded genome. It's no surprise the DNA is as messed up as the critter itself."

Comments

"Thou hast been Punk'd"?

[SpeedyDX]

Calling the Platypus a "messed up" animal is one thing, but comparing it to an Ashton Kutcher show is just uncalled for.

THCTHCTHC

[coren2000]

Strangely, the DNA strands seem to spell out THCTHCTHCTHCTHC repeated a hundred million times.

lactation

[caramello]

why can't i buy platypus cheese?

Re:lactation

[YttriumOxide]

Australia: The Confusing Country

Australia is a very confusing place, taking up a large amount of the bottom half of the planet. It is recognizable from orbit because of many unusual features, including what at first looks like an enormous bite taken out of it's southern edge; a wall of sheer cliffs which plunge deep into the girting sea. Geologists assure us that this is simply an accident of geomorphology and plate tectonics, but they still call it the "Great Australian Bight" proving that not only are they covering up a more frightening theory, but they can't spell either.

The first of the confusing things about Australia is the status of the place. Where other land masses and sovereign lands are classified as either continent, island, or country, Australia is considered all three. Typically, it is unique in this.

The second confusing thing about Australia are the animals. They can be divided into three categories. Poisonous, Odd, and Sheep. It is true that of the 10 most poisonous arachnids on the planet, Australia has 9 of them. Actually, it would be more accurate to say that of the 9 most poisonous arachnids, Australia has all of them. Though, there are curiously few snakes, possibly because the spiders have killed them all. Even the spiders won't go near the sea. Any visitors should be careful to check inside boots (before putting them on) under toilet seats (before sitting down) and generally everywhere else. A stick is very useful for this task.

Strangely, it tends to be the second class of animals (the Odd) that are more dangerous. The creature that kills the most people each year is the common Wombat. It is nearly as ridiculous as it's name, and spends it's life digging holes in the ground, in which it hides. During the night it comes out to eat worms and grubs. The wombat kills people in two ways: First, the animal is indestructible. Digging holes in the hard Australian clay builds muscles that outclass Olympic weightlifters. At night, they often wander the roads. Semi-trailers (Road Trains) have hit them at high speed, with all 9 wheels on one side, and this merely makes them very annoyed. They express this by snorting, glaring, and walking away. Alas, to smaller cars, the wombat becomes an asymmetrical high-speed launching pad, with results that can be imagined.

The second way the wombat kills people relates to it's burrowing behavior. If a person happens to put their hand down a Wombat hole, the Wombat will feel the disturbance and think "Ho! My hole is collapsing!" at which it will brace its muscled legs and push up against the roof of it's burrow, with incredible force, to prevent it's collapse. Any unfortunate hand will be crushed, and attempts to withdraw will cause the Wombat to simply bear down harder. The unfortunate will then bleed to death through their crushed hand as the wombat prevents him from seeking assistance. This is considered the third most embarrassing known way to die, and Australians don't talk about it much.

At this point, we would like to mention the Platypus, estranged relative of the mammal, which has a duck-bill, otter's tail, webbed feet, lays eggs, detects it's aquatic prey in the same way as the electric eel, and has venemous barbs attached to its hind legs, thus combining all 'typical' Australian attributes into a single improbable creature.

The last confusing thing about Australia is the inhabitants. First, a short history: Some time around 40,000 years ago, some people arrived in boats from the north. They ate all the available food, and lot of them died. The ones that survived learned respect for the balance of nature, man's proper place in the scheme of things, and spiders. They settled in, and spent a lot of the intervening time making up strange stories.

Then, around 200 years ago, Europeans arrived in boats from the north. More accurately, European convicts were sent, with a few deranged and stupid people in charge. They tried to plant their crops in Autumn (failing to take

Re:lactation

[Shinmizu]

Sounds like a hygiene problem to me.

Poisonous

[EdIII]

I had just recently learned that they also had poisonous barbs on their back feet. What is surprising that it is one of the most painful venoms on the planet. A gentleman that had been stuck by a platypus had also been struck by shrapnel in World War II.

He said if he had to choose between the two, it would be the grenade.

So the cute little bastards are also very dangerous. I still want to pick one up and hug them though.

Re:Poisonous

[Feanturi]

And what I heard about the primary use of that venom is that it is for immobilizing a swimming female, who will proceed to go limp and float helplessly, so that he can get his freak on. The platypus is Nature's date-rapist.

Re:another link

[donscarletti]

The male platypus actually has venomous spurs on the back of its hind legs, it hasn't been known to kill humans but can cause local paralysis and greater amounts of pain than the bites of many venomous snakes. There are pretty much no other example of anything like what the male platypus has, the sexual dimorphism of the trait, the fact that it's a spine like a poisonous fish not a tooth like all other venomous terrestrial creatures and of course the fact that it is a mammal (or close to it) of which there are very few examples of venom production(more info here) all make it unique.

The issue with them is that when people are lucky enough to find one (they are surprisingly common but also very secretive) they generally won't associate them with venom, even if they were taught about it before. They look comical and harmless so they handle them and get stung which I guess is fair enough. Ironically, a wild echidna (a spiky monotreme) is quite safe to touch (you still shouldn't do it, though I admit that I once couldn't resist the temptation during a trip through Tasmania).