Copulation occurs when the male partially mounts the female, inserts his four-pronged penis in her cloaca and ejaculates into her. He will nip hers in return, and they will swim in a circle and indulge in other aquatic courting rituals for a few days more before mating. She will indicate her readiness to mate by nipping the male on his tail. The courting ritual lasts for several weeks, during which time the female plays coy and refuses his advances until she is receptive. They mate with any male in their territory, assuming he is probably the biggest and strongest in the area. Females do not appear to be picky about the male they couple up with.
The victor wins whatever females reside in his newly won territory. These fights are rarely fatal the toxins usually paralyse the loser until it retreats. To do this, the male produces venom in its rear spurs and battles other males for the female's affection. Scientists believe the platypus lost its stomach because its diet does not require a complex organ, such as a stomach, to break down its food.ĭuring the mating season between June and October, a male platypus has only one aim: to win territory and secure any females within it. Instead, it has a sac between its oesophagus and intestine that secretes powerful digestive acids and enzymes to break down its food. The platypus spends 10-12 hours a day foraging for food and consumes 15-30% of its body mass in food each day. Once on the surface, the platypus retrieves the morsels stored in its cheek pouches, grinds its food between two bony plates on their upper and lower jaws, and swallows the mashed-up food. In 30 to 60 seconds, when its oxygen supply starts to run out, the platypus heads back up to the surface. Then, it continues to search for more prey.
It stores its catch temporarily in cheek pouches located just behind its jaw. Then, quickly homing in on these signals, the platypus shovels them out of the stream-bed with its bill and pounces on them. The platypus hunts by moving its head from side to side as it swims underwater and picks up the tell-tale electrical signals given off by its prey.
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