Science: Birth of a Platypus

For the first time ever, a duck-billed platypus was born in captivity. The baby platypus was born to a pair named Jack & Jill in the Healesville animal sanctuary near Melbourne, Australia. Its birth was a big surprise to naturalists.

The platypus amuses most people by its funny name and its funny face (see cut). A very primitive link between mammals and aquatic birds, the platypus is a duckbilled, web-footed, molelike creature that nurses its young. It nests in a burrow in a river bank. The female lays small (¾ in. long), soft-shelled eggs....

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