Prehistoric Models: Monotremata
(egg laying mammals)
Mammals are a class animals defined as warm-blooded vertebrates, distinguished by the possession of hair or fur, the secretion of milk by females for the nourishment of the young, and (typically) the birth of live young (with only two modern exceptions).
Monotremata include the modern platypus and echidna. They are more commonly referred to as “egg laying mammals”, and are found in the southern hemisphere-paricularly: Australia, New Guinea, and Tazmania.
Kingdom: Animalia – Phylum: Chordata – Superclass: Tetrapoda – Class: Mammalia – Infraclass: Australosphenida – Order: Monotremata
Genus: Ornithorhynchus anatinus
Common name: Platypus
Classification: Family: Ornithorhynchidae
Time: Miocene to Holocene
Range: Eastern Austrailia
Diet: Carnivore (annelid worms, insect larva, freshwater shrimp and crawfish)
