![]() Where they differ from us enormously however is in their delivery. Platypus also has casein genes which explains why their milk is quite similar to that of cows and humans. These churn out casein proteins which are a major component of mammalian milk and are thought to have first appeared in a common ancestor around 170 million years ago. Milk production is a characteristic of mammals and this is explained by our genomes which show the vitellogenin egg-making-trio were replaced with casein genes. ![]() However, unlike reptiles and birds’ eggs, the eggs of the platypus aren’t dependent on yolk proteins because… *checks notes* they SWEAT MILK. Observational evidence of this surviving gene is seen in their egg-laying. The genome of the platypus reveals they have kept one of these three genes, with the other two falling by the wayside some 130 million years ago. Humans have lost all of these genes which is why embryos aren’t treated to a lovely yolk while during their development (sorry babies). Vitellogenin genes are a vital component for animals who produce egg yolks such as chickens, extant animals in whom all three genes have endured. “Together with our echidna sequence, the genomes of the two species allow us to detect the ancestral and lineage-specific genomic changes that shape both monotreme and mammalian evolution,” wrote the researchers in the paper. Such research is of great academic value as by diving into the genome of what may be the Earth’s strangest mammal we can see what happened evolutionarily speaking to wind up at the bizarre body maps of the platypus ( Ornithorhynchus anatinus) and the echidna ( Tachyglossus aculeatus). Now, new research published in the journal Nature has sought to identify the root of these animals’ spectacularly bizarre array of characteristics by mapping their genomes. They are a member of the monotremes where they’re joined by another of Australia’s most unusual critters: the echidna. As semi-aquatic mammals who lay eggs, sweat milk and glow in the dark (turns out they're not the only ones), it’s easy to imagine why some early naturalists doubted the authenticity of early specimens which no doubt looked like someone had simply glued a beak to a taxidermy beaver. There are some pretty freaky characters in the animal kingdom but arguably the "Top of the WTFs " has to be the duck-billed platypus.
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