Why is the Platypus a Mammal?

Question

I do realize that they have fur and are probably warm-blooded, but they lay eggs! Isn't there another category for that?

Answer 1

they didn't want to make a whole new category just for the platypus I suppose

Answer 2

yes the playypus is a mammal it is semi-aqautic and the male haspiosinous hind leg spurs on the back of it hing legs =]

Answer 3

yes there is another category. its called a monotreme. the only 2 animals that r in this category r the echidna and the platypus.

Answer 4

the platypus is a mammal because mammals have fur, live birth, and give milk to there young witch is wat defines a mammal

Answer 5

Giving birth to live young, while a common trait for mammals, is not a defining trait.  All early mammals laid eggs.  The monotremes, which include the platypus and the echidna, branched off of the family tree early in mammal history and evolved a different set of derived traits while keeping a different set of ancestral traits than us therian mammals (the marsupials and placentals) did.  One ancestral trait the monotremes kept was egg laying.  Mammals and reptiles both share a common ancestor among the amniotes who were the first to lay hard shelled eggs.  Both mammals and reptiles shared this egg laying trait until relatively recently, when mammals started giving birth to live young.  Bearing live young is a comparatively new thing for mammals to do.  However, when this trait first developed is was apparently highly advantageous.  Since live bearing mammals had a survival edge over egg laying mammals, the live bearers quickly took over the world's ecosystems.  We became the most common type of mammals, even though, technically, us live bearers are the weird new kids on the block.

Answer 6

The pltypus is a mammal because:  check out the link below.

Answer 7

The reason it is a mammal is the following:

Mammals (class Mammalia) are a class of vertebrate animals characterised by the presence of sweat glands, including sweat glands modified for milk production, hair, three middle ear bones used in hearing, and a neocortex region in the brain

It just happens that Platypuses lay eggs, It's an anomaly in that regard.

Answer 8

It nurses it's young with milk, like  other mammals.  It is definately warm-blooded.  Yes they do lay eggs, but so does the Echidna and it too is a mammal.  Trivia point, both of these egg laying mammals are native to Australia.

Answer 9

There is another category for that, it's just beneath the level of a mammal.  Like you said, platypuses have fur, and are warm blooded, but they also produce milk- a characteristic unique only to mammals (that's where they derive their name).  While most mammals give live birth (the Metatherians and Eutherians), Platypuses and spiny anteaters have their own special category for egg-laying mammals called Prototherians.  

Prehaps it's easiest to think of the other classes of vertebrates- a platypus certainly isn't a reptile, amphibian, fish, or bird.

Answer 10

Mammals have eggs to. But gestation normally takes place inside. The platapus eggs come out first. Thats about the only difference.

A similar question may be why marsupials aren't Mammals?

The only difference is where majority of the gestation happens.

Answer 11

The Platypus belongs to a very primitive group of Mammals called Monotremes.  They lay eggs, have fur and warm blood, and produce milk.

They are indeed Mammals.  The other groups of Mammals are Marsupials, who have a pouch, and the Placentals, like you and me.

Humans have eggs too, but our young develop internally...

Answer 12

A mammal is characterized by lungs, warm blooded; however the platypus is somewhat unique in that it lays eggs (like a chicken) and is venomous (poisonous).

Answer 13

All mammals have these three qualities:

1 they are exothermic (maintain their body temperature) though some do this better than others

2 they have fur – though some, say Polar Bear have a lot more fur (all over) than others, say whales, which only have a few whiskers.

3 they produce milk from their mammary glands (that's why we're called mammals)

There are three kinds of mammals

1 eutherian (placental) which grow the baby inside until it is quite large

2 marsupials which grow a very small baby inside and then nourish it in a pouch until it's big enough to come out

3 monotremes which lay eggs and then nourish the hatchlings on milk when they emerge

All feed their young on milk

All have mammary glands

that's why they're mammals

Answer 14

birds don't have fur or give milk, the platypus does.