Discover the largest platypus fossil in Australia

- No mammals are living but unusual with platypus. It has a large beak, like a bird's beak, thick, hairy-like, and its legs are like a beaver. Platypus spawn eggs instead of babies, their noses are surrounded by charged parts that detect prey underwater, and male duck beaks have a poisonous thorn on their hind legs.

So far, master chemistry records have shown that the platypus strain is unique, consisting of only one species residing on Earth at any time from the past to the present. This picture was changed with the announcement of a new study in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology , describing a new platypus, extinct giant platypus and a branch of animal genealogy. speculum.

The new platypus , named Obdurodon tharalkooschild , is based on a fossil tooth from a famous area called Riversleigh World Heritage Area in northwest Queensland. While many fossils of Riversleigh are being dated to the radiation, the exact date of this fossil record suggests that the giant platypus is in question but dating from 5 to 15 million years old. .

'Single-grained animals (platypus and porcupine) are an ancient trail of the branching of ancient mammals to the southern continents. A new, even very incomplete platypus, is a very important addition to the development of these fascinating animals, ' said Ph.D Rebecca Pian, lead author of the study.

Based on the size of the aforementioned tooth, scientists predict that this extinct creature could be nearly 1 meter long (more than 3 feet), twice the size of today's platypus. Tumors and papules on the teeth also provide evidence of the food of this creature.

'Like other platypus, it could be an aquatic animal, and must live in and around freshwater ponds in the forests covering the Riversleigh area millions of years ago,' said Dr. Suzanne Hand. from the University of New South Wales, a co-author of the study said. 'Obdurodon tharalkooschild is a huge platypus with well-developed teeth, and we think it not only eats copper shrimp and other freshwater crustaceans, but also small vertebrates , including lungfish, frogs and small turtles that lived in the same time as the Two Tree Site fossil.

The oldest platypus fossils from rock masses date to about 61 million years in the south of South America. Younger platypus fossil specimens are now native to Australia in the Simpson Desert desert area. Before the discovery of Obdurodon tharalkooschild , these fossils showed that platypus became smaller and reduced their tooth size over time. The modern platypus lacks completely mature teeth and instead has horns in its mouth. The name Obdurodon comes from the Greek 'permanent teeth' (lasting or obdurate tooth) and was created to distinguish extinct toothed platypuses from modern, toothless species.

'Discovering this new platypus was a surprise to us because before that, the fossil record showed that the platypus's evolutionary tree was like a straight line,' said Dr. Michael Archer of the school. The University of New South Wales, a co-author of the study, said . 'We now realize that there are unexpected branches of this evolutionary tree, some of which have become huge'.

The scientific name of this new species, tharalkooschild, follows a creation story of native Australians about the origin of platypus. In the story called Dreamtime, Tharalkoo is a stubborn duck who refuses to listen to his parents. Her parents warned her not to swim down the river because Bigoon - the water rat could harm her. She was joking, and didn't listen to her parents, and was raped by Bigoon. By the time Tharakoo escaped and returned to the family, the other ducks were laying eggs, her child was a bizarre animal with a beak and hindquarters, and lay eggs like any other duck, along with the feathers and forelegs of a rodent - it was the first platypus.