![]() ![]() The use of data loggers has confirmed that platypus feed mainly but by no means exclusively at night, with around 25% of the animals tracked along a small Victorian stream and 40% of those tracked in a Tasmanian lake often recorded to be active during daylight hours. At Lake Lea in Tasmania (which has a maximum depth of more than 10 metres), 98% of platypus dives did not exceed 3 metres, though one dive descended to nearly 9 metres. A study conducted along the Manning River in New South Wales (which has a maximum depth of about 8 metres) found that about 80% of platypus foraging dives reached a depth of 1.6-4.9 metres, with the deepest descending to 6.1 metres. Instead, inedible material is probably routinely expelled (along with surplus water) through grooves located along the edge of the lower jaw (as shown at left).Īn insulating air layer trapped in the platypus’s fur helps to provide positive buoyancy, increasing the amount of energy needed to dive deeply. In particular, there’s no reason to believe that gritty sediment is retained on purpose to help grind up prey. It returns to the surface as its oxygen supply becomes depleted (usually within 30-60 seconds of when it dived, though unforced dives of up to 138 seconds have been recorded) and then typically spends 10-20 seconds chewing and swallowing its food before diving again.Īlthough platypus cheek pouches sometimes hold minor amounts of mud or sand, such material is presumably ingested by accident. ![]() ![]() The platypus doesn’t swallow food immediately, instead storing its prey in special cheek pouches located at the back of the jaw. The animal swims to the bottom and uses its bill to find and seize prey. Platypus foraging behaviour in a pool begins with an animal doing a neat, quiet duck dive (as shown above). Animals most commonly feed for one extended session in each 24-hour period, typically remaining active for 8-16 (though occasionally up to 30) hours and completing up to 1600 foraging dives per session. They find their small invertebrate prey by searching along shallow riffles, gleaning items from submerged logs and branches, digging under banks, and diving repeatedly to the bottom of pools. In this section on platypus ecology and behaviour you can read about: ![]()
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