Abstract
MORE than a year ago I recorded the successful rearing of a platypus by Mr. R. Eadie at Healesville, Victoria1; the animal has now been in captivity 740 days. It was probably five months old when captured, and was then 15 inches long and weighed 48 ounces avoirdupois. It is now 21 inches long and weighs 72 ounces. Its daily diet is 18 ounces of worms and two eggs, specially prepared. During the period of captivity it has consumed 700 pounds of worms and 1,300 eggs, most of them duck eggs. It has also eaten thousands of tadpoles and large quantities of grubs. Whether this is a balanced diet or whether in the wild state it finds something else to eat remains to be investigated. But the success of the experiment so far seems unique.
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NATURE, 132, 446; 1933. 133, 260; 1934.
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BARRETT, J. A Tame Platypus. Nature 135, 875 (1935). https://doi.org/10.1038/135875b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/135875b0
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