This process occurs while the animals are feeding. According to the Australian Platypus Conservatory, the animals will sometimes pick up mud and sand in their cheek pouches, and as they eat, they will expel this inedible sediment, along with excess water, through grooves in their lower jaws. Platypuses float on the surface of the water after emerging from their dives, and while doing so, they grind their food with “grinding plates” in their mouths. According to the Australian Museum, platypuses have even been seen eating cicadas and moths that they catch at the surface of the water. In addition to shrimp, swimming beetles, water bugs, and tadpoles, these animals will also eat the occasional worm, freshwater pea mussel, or snail. When platypuses come across something of interest, such as an insect larva, they will collect it in their bills, then bring it up to the surface to store it in their cheek pouches. Instead, they use their sensitive bills to find food along the muddy bottom of the river, stream, pond, or lake they are swimming in. In the water where they live, they engage in hunting for their food.Īccording to the Australian Museum, while foraging underwater, these animals actually close their eyes, ears, and nostrils. Platypuses are carnivorous, which means that they do not consume any plant-based foods in their diet. In addition, due to the species’ high sensitivity to changes, the environments in which they are kept in captivity need to be closely monitored. However, in place of teeth, they have two grinding plates and ridges on both the upper and lower jaws, which they use to “chew” their food.įreshwater yabby is the primary component of the platypus’ diet when it is kept in captivity. This species is known to feed on adult insects as well as freshwater shrimp, and there is some evidence to suggest that it may also consume the occasional small frog. It feeds on invertebrates like annelid worms and insect larvae, as well as freshwater shrimp and yabbies, which are crustaceans that look like a cross between crayfish and lobsters. The platypus is a member of the order of molluscivores despite the fact that it is a carnivore.
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