Platypuses will take care of their young until they are old enough to be left on their own. The male platypus does not take any part in raising the young platypuses. When she returns, she pushes past these plugs, thereby forcing water from her fur and helping to keep the chamber dry. As she leaves the burrow, the mother platypus makes several thin plugs made of soil along the length of burrow this helps to protect the young from predators which would enter the burrow during the mother's absence. They are suckled by the mother for 3-4 months, during which time she only leaves them to forage for food. The young are blind, hairless and completely vulnerable. After she lays one to three eggs, which have already developed within her body for 28 days, she curls her body around the eggs to incubate them for another ten days.Īfter hatching, the mother platypus feeds her young on milk secreted from glands, rather than from teats. The mother platypus prepares a chamber at the end of a burrow especially for the purpose of protecting the young. Unlike the echidna, the other egg-laying mammal (or monotreme), the platypus does not develop a temporary pouch to incubate the eggs. One of the platypus’ most unusual characteristics is that, while it lays eggs, it also has mammary glands used to feed its babies, not through nipples, but from milk that it sweats from its body. What they found was a unique, never-before-seen 3D fold.ĭue to its ringlet-like formation, the researchers have dubbed the newly discovered protein fold the 'Shirley Temple', in tribute to the former child-actor's distinctive curly hair.Platypuses are one of two types of mammals which lay eggs. "We were interested to examine the protein's structure and characteristics to find out exactly what part of the protein was doing what," she said.Įmploying the marvels of molecular biology, the Synchrotron, and CSIRO's state of the art Collaborative Crystallisation Centre (C3), the team successfully made the protein, then deciphered its structure to get a better look at it. Credit: CSIROĪs platypus don't have teats, they express milk onto their belly for the young to suckle, exposing the mother's highly nutritious milk to the environment, leaving babies susceptible to the perils of bacteria.ĭeakin University's Dr Julie Sharp said researchers believed this was why the platypus milk contained a protein with rather unusual and protective antibacterial characteristics. The researchers named this never-before-seen protein the Shirley Temple, in tribute to the former child-actor's distinctive curly hair. Platypus newborns start out like almost no other mammal (aside from the echidna)as an egg. And while the platypus mom may not travel long distances or endure a lengthy gestation, she really does an amazing job at raising her young. Using x-ray crystallography, the team discovered a unique structure in the platypus milk protein which, when solved, formed a three dimensional fold, similar to a ringlet. African elephants carry their young for almost two years before giving birth to a 200-pound, three-foot-tall baby. By taking a closer look at their milk, we've characterised a new protein that has unique antibacterial properties with the potential to save lives." "The platypus belongs to the monotreme family, a small group of mammals that lay eggs and produce milk to feed their young. "Platypus are such weird animals that it would make sense for them to have weird biochemistry," CSIRO scientist and lead author on the research published in Structural Biology Communications, Dr Janet Newman said. The discovery was made by replicating a special protein contained in platypus milk in a laboratory setting. Now a team of researchers at Australia's national research agency, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Oganisation (CSIRO), and Deakin University have solved a puzzle that helps explain why platypus milk is so potent - bringing it one step closer to being used to save lives. In 2010 scientists discovered that platypus milk contained unique antibacterial properties that could be used to fight superbugs. Due to its unique features - duck-billed, egg-laying, beaver-tailed and venomous- the platypus has long exerted a powerful appeal to scientists, making it an important subject in the study of evolutionary biology.
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