About the platypus – SOWN’s logo
In the early days of SOWN in the 1990s, unconfirmed sightings of platypus were not uncommon. The platypus is SOWN’s benchmark and logo. Nothing symbolizes healthy waterways more than this bizarre little monotreme (egg-laying mammal). A common aim in creek restoration is to improve waterways to the standard of happy-platypus playground.
The platypus has webbed feet and thick, waterproof fur. It is warm blooded but not as warm as us, Instead of 37°C it has a body temperature of 32°C. No-one knows why. Both male and female platypuses are born with ankle spurs, but only the male’s are loaded with venom, powerful enough to kill a dog and excruciating for humans when jabbed. Platypus detect prey, a mixture of worms, insect larvae, shrimps and yabbies, by the prey’s electric fields. Because each platypus needs to eat about 20 per cent of its own weight each day, a platypus playground needs to be a healthy and abundant habitat with locally-native creek bank vegetation.
The second Governor of New South Wales, John Hunter, sent a sketch and a platypus pelt to London in 1798. The parcel was dismissed as a hoax, scientists believing somebody had sewn a duck’s beak onto the body of a beaver. The platypus was, eventually, properly described in 1800. Its scientific name Ornithorhynchus anatinus means duck-like bird-snout.
In 2004, researchers at Australian National University discovered the platypus has ten sex chromosomes, compared with two in most other mammals. This means theoretically there could be 25 platypus genders, male, female and 23 others. In practice, this doesn’t happen. The platypus system seems to be overloaded with sex determination because it is a missing link, having the sex chromosome arrangements of both birds and mammals. This discovery, the bird-mammal missing link, excites a lot of scientists.
It is extremely difficult to breed platypus in captivity. In 1943 David Fleay created a successful platypusary, a simulated stream in a tank, at Healesville Sanctuary in Victoria. The rarity of successful breeding underlines the importance of natural habitat for their survival.
To protect and encourage platypus requires creating more suitable habitat and reducing threats. Creek buffer zones, stumps and snags in watercourses are vital for all aquatic life. Barbed wire across creek lines, intake pipes, ‘Opera House’ style yabbie traps, dogs, cats and foxes are all threats. SOWN works actively with The Gap Sustainability Initiative The Platypus Project which aims to reintroduce the platypus to Enoggera Creek by 2032.
SOWN adopted the platypus logo in 1995. It was designed by a volunteer who wished to remain anonymous. In 2018 the logo was updated to add the words ‘Enoggera Catchment Care’.
Platypus Ornithorhynchus anatinus Photo: Jenella Loye
Painting by John Lewin 1802
Preliminary sketch for SOWN logo Trevor Ozanne Collection
