The platypus, a native of eastern Australia, is a puzzling creature with features from birds, mammals, and reptiles. Male ...

In echidnas and platypuses, evolution duplicated the gene, parked the copy on a Y chromosome, and rewired its control panel to switch on early in male gonads. Sex starts outside the cell’s nucleus ...

What's more, just how they do it has been a mystery. Until now. In a recent study published in Genome Biology, our research team has found strong evidence that monotreme sex comes down to a single ...

Evolution Monotremes Molecular biology Evolutionary biology echidnas platypus Sex chromosomes australian animals New research, Australia New Zealand ...

Platypus milk production. Image via Unsplash. The platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) already stood as one of evolution’s most remarkable creations before the discovery of its biofluorescence. As a ...

The platypus holds immense scientific significance as a “living fossil” that provides unique insights into mammalian evolution. When the first platypus specimen reached England in 1798, it caused such ...

Between backward-facing-feet, nipple-less milk secretion and egg-laying, platypuses and echidnas are some of the strangest ...

To shed more light on echidna evolution, Hand and her colleagues reexamined a humerus (upper forelimb bone) from the extinct monotreme Kryoryctes cadburyi, which lived in what is now southern ...

A new study suggests the platypus and echidna — the only egg-laying mammals — had a water-dwelling ancestor. The finding could upend what’s known of their evolution.

A new study suggests the platypus and echidna — the only egg-laying mammals — had a water-dwelling ancestor. The finding could upend what’s known of their evolution.

New fossil evidence reveals insights into the evolution of monotremes, specifically platypuses and echidnas. A 108-million-year-old humerus suggests a semi-aquatic lifestyle was ancestral for ...