Platypus how many are left in the world

Stephen Johnson. Share The platypus is headed for extinction, warn Australian scientists on Twitter. Share The platypus is headed for extinction, warn Australian scientists on LinkedIn. In this article. Virgin birth — which involves the development of an unfertilised egg — has preoccupied humans for aeons. The Past.

Although many dinosaurs never left the ground, they still possessed the basic structural framework for flight. Strange Maps. Both the UNSW research and Victorian panel warned that climate change would only exacerbate threats to the species, especially from drought. The call to list it as a threatened species would be considered, a representative told the newspaper. Image source, Reuters. Platypus numbers are on the decline, scientists warn.

Which animals fare best and worst in fires? Extinction threat to overlooked species. By analysing water samples for the DNA of platypuses excreted mainly in poo and wee , researchers can tell if the animal is in the water without having to see them.

A lack of long-term platypus monitoring means that as land-clearing and regulation of rivers has altered their habitat, any decline could be going unnoticed. Australian coastal cities have grown relatively rapidly and in places such as Brisbane, platypus habitats of creek banks and waterways are now surrounded by busy suburbs.

Dr Gilad Bino, a platypus researcher at the University of New South Wales Centre for Ecosystem Science, helped compile research that went to the Australian federal government to ask the platypus be listed as a vulnerable species.

The platypus is known to exist from far north Queensland to Tasmania — a distance of about 2,km 1, miles — in freshwater rivers across a range of habitats from tropical to semi-arid, temperate and alpine areas. Gilad says its modern-day threats are compounding. Water extraction from rivers and creeks, the building of dams and weirs that create obstacles, and river bank erosion from land clearing all have an impact.

Droughts that could be worsened by climate change affect the freshwater habitats, as waterways dry out or become too shallow. The platypus is listed as endangered in South Australia and is recommended to threatened status in Victoria, as well as being nominated for a nationwide listing.