AUSTRALIA'S OLDEST SURVIVING MAMMAL -THE PLATYPUS PART 1

Now you would have to admit that the platypus is a bit weird. At first those few colonists who sighted this rather timid animal sent sketches back to England. Newspapers an journals regarded these sketches as strange assemblages of bits of animals and dismissed the platypus as a hoax. However, the platypus was no hoax. It has persisted in the Australian landscape as a survivor long after other animals have become extinct. Take your students into the habitat of the platypus and learn about some of its remarkable features which explain its persistence from the age of the dinosaurs to the present day. Students in general are fascinated by the platypus. Hopefully your students will join their fascination. This unit, the first of two, has a focus on the origin, distribution and adaptation of the platypus. It links with the second unit which introduces impacts and changes.