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duckbill |
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duckbill, fishduckbill, fish: see paddlefish paddlefish, large freshwater fish, Polyodon spathula, of the Mississippi valley, also called spoonbill or duckbill and named for its flattened, paddle-shaped snout. The largest specimens weigh well over 150 lb (67.5 kg) and reach 6 ft (183 cm) in length...... Click the link for more information. . duckbill, marsupialduckbill, marsupial: see platypus platypus (plăt`əpəs), semiaquatic egg-laying mammal, Ornithorhynchus anatinus, of Tasmania and E Australia...... Click the link for more information. . platypusor duckbillMonotreme amphibious mammal (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) of lakes and streams in eastern Australia and Tasmania. About 23 in. (60 cm) long, the squat-bodied platypus has a ducklike snout, short legs, webbed feet, and a beaverlike tail. Each day it eats nearly its own weight in crustaceans, fishes, frogs, mollusks, tadpoles, and earthworms; lacking teeth, it crushes its food with ridges in the bill. The female lays one to three eggs in a nest in a long twisting passage above the waterline. The young are weaned about four months after hatching. The male's heel bears a spur connected to a poison-secreting gland. Large fishes and perhaps snakes prey on platypuses. Formerly trapped for their dense, soft fur, they are now protected by law. duckbill [′dək‚bil] (mechanical engineering) A shaking type of combination loader and conveyor whose loading end is generally shaped like a duck's bill. How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content. |
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The findings are mostly evidence of theropods (upright carnivores) with footprints of theropod prey, hadrosaurs or duck-billed dinosaurs. Authored and illustrated by Australian aboriginal artist, actor and writer Mundara Koorang, The Little Platypus And The Fire Spirit is a "Dream Time" story of the duck-billed, web-footed, paddle-tailed, fur covered platypus and how such a peculiar creature came to be of such a curiously featured shape. The configuration of these ear bones is similar in all three extant groups of mammals: the placental mammals, which bear live young, the pouched marsupials, and the egg-laying monotremes, such as the duck-billed platypus. |
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