Quick Take Platypuses are monotremes, one of the oldest branches of mammals, and they reproduce by laying eggs instead of giving birth to live young. Unlike most mammals, platypuses secrete milk ...

Adult males measure 15.7 to 24.8 inches long from the tip of their bill to the tip of their tail and weigh 1.7 to 6.6 pounds. Females are smaller than males, measuring 14.5 to 21.6 inches in length ...

I have only seen one platypus in the wild in my three-quarters of a century, despite extensive travels across Australia’s vast outdoors. It was in a pool below a waterfall on the Atherton Tablelands ...