Platypus Evolution

Introduction

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Platypuses (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) are monotremes, a type of egg-laying mammal with mammary glands and a flat beak. Aboriginal people in different regions have different names for the animal, including mallingong, boondaburra, and tambreet. Platypuses are the only remaining member of the family Ornithorhynchidaeare, and there are only four other species of egg-laying mammals. Clearly, platypuses are unique. They live in the permanent river systems of eastern Australia, Tasmania, King’s Island, and Kangaroo Island, distributed across various environments ranging from tropical to alpine. Despite their range of environments, however, the IUCN deemed them “Near Threatened” in 2016.

Figure 1: Photo of a platypus diving to the bottom of a river. Image courtesy of Hobvias Sudoneighm via Flickr [1]

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Genetics

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Fossil Record

The earliest known ancestors of modern platypuses lived during the early Cretaceous Period around 100 to 146 million years ago. Judging from fossil evidence, these creatures are not very similar to modern platypuses, but a lower jaw fragment of Steropodon galmani from over 100 million years ago has platypus-like features and suggests that the mammal may have possessed a bill. The oldest known animal that is definitely a member of the platypus family is Monotrematum sudamericanum, which lived in Patagonia (South America) about 61 to 63 million years ago. At that time, Australia and South America were connected, forming a continent with Antarctica known as Gondwana.

Researchers have also uncovered a fragment of a Pliocene platypus, Ornithorhynchus agilis, from roughly 3.8 million years ago. Another species, Obdurodon insignis, was identified based on two teeth in southern Australia that date back to the Oligocene approximately 26 Mya. More fossils have since been found. Fossils of Obdurodon dicksoni were in freshwater limestone from the Middle Miocene, around 15 Mya, and a larger species, Obdurodon tharalkooschild, was also found in the same area.

Phylogenetic tree showing the divergence of monotremes from other mammals

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Conclusion

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References

Edited by Cindy Chen, student of Joan Slonczewski for BIOL 116 Information in Living Systems, 2022, Kenyon College.