第11章 Lesson 11: The Strangest Animal on Earth

What animal has fur and gives milk to its young like a mammal, but lays eggs like a bird or a reptile? What animal has webbed feet and a bill like a duck, but has a tail that looks like a beaver's?

It's the duck-billed platypus—one of the strangest animals on Earth! Duck-billed platypi (the plural form of platypus) like to live in burrows near freshwater streams and ponds, and can be found only in eastern Australia and Papua New Guinea. They are about the size of a cat and weigh about three kilograms. They are good swimmers, but because their legs stick out at their sides, they walk like a lizard on land.

Duck-billed platypi like to eat meat, especially crayfish, worms, snails, shrimp, and other small animals in the water. They also eat small land rodents. Male platypi have a poisonous spike on their ankles which can be used to protect themselves from other animals, or to kill small animals for food. They live between 10 and 17 years.

This kind of animal, a warm-blooded mammal that lays eggs, is very rare. We call them monotremes. Long ago, there were many kinds of monotremes in the world, but now there are only three: the duck-billed platypus and two kinds of echidnas, or "spiny anteaters".

I. Word List

webbed: having connected toes like a duck

spike: a sharp point

ankle: the bottom part of the leg

II. Complete the information about the duck-billed platypus.

1. Habitat (where it lives) ___________________________________

2. Size ___________________________________

3. Weight ___________________________________

4. Diet (what it eats) ___________________________________

5. Lifespan (how long it lives) ___________________________________

III. What does it look like? Tell how the duck-billed platypus is similar to these animals.

1. a bird: __________________________________________________

2. a duck: __________________________________________________

3. a beaver: _________________________________________________

IV. Answer the following questions.

1. The duck-billed platypus looks very strange. What are some other strange-looking animals that you know?

___________________________________________________________.

2. What is the poisonous spike on the ankle of the male duck-billed platypus used for?

___________________________________________________________.

3. How many kinds of warm-blooded mammals that lay eggs are there in the world?

___________________________________________________________.

4. Would you like to see a duck-billed platypus? Why or why not?

___________________________________________________________.

5. What is the strangest-looking animal you have ever seen?

___________________________________________________________.