Anne TootillThe Platypus - Scientists unlock DNA
May 9th 2008 00:23
We in Australia have one of the oddest creatures ever to walk the planet. The platypus lays eggs like a bird, produces milk like a cow and releases snake-like venom from its ankles.
A cross between a beaver and a duck, it has the tail of a beaver, the webbed feet of an otter and an enormous bird-like bill.
Scientists have decoded its DNA for the first time.
The findings confirm that it is a mix of reptile, bird and mammal and could even lead to the development of new drugs based on chemicals in the creature's milk and venom.
Duck-billed platypuses are one of only five mammals that lay eggs
They look so peculiar that when the first stuffed platypus was brought to England in 1798 scientists insisted that a hoaxer had sewn a duck bill onto a mammal's body.
Their claws are sharp and strong, while males have a poisonous spur on their rear ankles which can be used in self defence or in fighting other males.
Dr Kathy Belov, from the Faculty of Veterinary Science at the University of Sydney co-author on the Nature paper, said: "We identified 20 new antimicrobial peptides in the platypus genome and are now testing them to see which bugs they kill."
The study found that platypus venom is a cocktail of chemicals - including some found in snake venom, even though the two creatures evolved independently. Research into the creatures' venom could also lead to new painkillers, the scientists say.
The new study was carried out by 115 scientists. They included British researchers at the Medical Research Council Functional Genomics Unit in Oxford who analysed the DNA blueprint of a female platypus nicknamed Glennie.
Dr Chris Ponting, of the MRC unit at Oxford, said: "The platypus genome is extremely important because it is the missing link in our understanding of how we and other mammals first evolved.
"This is our ticket back in time to when all mammals laid eggs while suckling their young on milk. It also provides an essential background to future advances in understanding mammalian biology and evolution."
Here we go again, evolution versus religion, what is one to believe?
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There are only five living monotreme species: the duck-billed platypus and four species of echidna (also known as spiny anteaters). All of them are found only in Australia and New Guinea. Monotremes are not a very diverse group today, and there has not been much fossil information known until rather recently.