Puzzle of the Platypus solved at last
ST. LOUIS
Is it a bird? A mammal? Reptile?
An international team of scientists led by the Washington University School of Medicine has finally solved one of nature’s wildest puzzles: the duck-billed platypus.
The scientists spent two years decoding the genome sequence of the Australian platypus, which has boggled mankind for centuries.
Historically the platypus has gotten a bum rap as an evolutionary fluke. Researchers had two goals in mind: to learn more about the inner workings of the wacky critter, and to translate that knowledge into better understanding of human evolution.
“We weren’t evolved from platypuses, but we and platypuses had an ancestor in common millions and millions of years ago,” said Richard Wilson, director of The Genome Center at Washington University and the lead author of the platypus study, which was published in a recent issue of Nature.
Female platypuses produce milk for their young like a mammal, but also lay eggs like a bird. They have duck-like bills that help them find food underwater by smell and thick fur to survive freezing waters. The male platypus produces venom like a snake through his hind legs to protect against predators and to keep romantic competition at bay.
Researchers compared the platypus genome with those of humans, mice, dogs, opossums, chickens and lizards. Turns out the platypus actually shares 82 percent of its genes with other mammals whose genes have been studied.
The scientists can use the knowledge to figure out which mammalian characteristics have been gained or lost through evolution.
“We don’t just do this because it’s a crazy animal and we’re trying to figure out what it’s all about,”
bbernhard@post-dispatch.com | 314-340-8129
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