Platypus Paradox Dilemma
The platypus puzzles naturalists and scientists alike. While its bizarre characteristics seem to defy a natural explanation, the platypus may be a classic transitional link. Like a reptile, it lays eggs, yet, it nurses with milk without nipples. As one of the least understood living mammals, and unlike any other known species, it has ten sex chromosomes. The platypus produces venom, like a reptile, and uses electroreception, like a shark – a puzzle known as the platypus paradox dilemma.
That’s not all; the list of oddities goes on. To gain an understanding of this evolution icon, scientists have long-awaited insights from its genome. This January’s journal Nature reports on the most comprehensive investigation of the platypus genome ever performed.
