Platypus-+Ornithorhynchus+Morsus+Spiculum

By FIONI CHIU Morsus (Ornithorhynchus Morsus Spiculum) **Introduction** Morsus is the future of the Platypus Ornithorhynchus anatinus. 50 million years from now, the platypus, Ornithorhynchus anatinus would've evolved to the Ornithorhynchus Morsus Spiculum. Ornithorhynchus Morsus Spiculum is Morsus's latin name, morsus meaning sting and spiculum meaning, sharp point. 
 * MODERN PLATYPUS **◄ ▬ --- ▬ ►ANCIENT PLATYPUS

** HABI ﻿ TAT/ ENVIRONMENT ** **Area of the World it lives in**  ﻿ 50 million years later, ﻿ the Atlantic has widen and Australia has collided with South East Asia. Morsus platypus can be found in parts of South East Asia, as they can swim across the ocean because of the close distance between Australia and parts of Asia. The Morsus platypus can be found throughout the whole of Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia.



**Environment of where it lives** The Morsus platypus is able to adapt to the extreme weather of both hot and cold. They can be seen in more diverse areas, such as tropical rainforests, and wetlands. As the Morsus platypus has more advanced and adaptable features, it can easily survive in areas with a harsh environment. The Morsus platypus live in packs and still live in burrows, but instead of burrows on the side of riverbanks, they can dig underground of any dirt/soil-like grounds. Water is still an essential survival need of the Morsus platypus. Its burrow's location need to be near any kind of watercourse as they prefer larger bodies of water. The water can help the platypus cool down if it is overheated, and also let it catch prey.

**Reproduction Depending on Habitat** The Morsus platypus is able to breed whenever there is a sufficient supply in food. With the larger range of food that the Morsus platypus can choose from, it can easily access their food choices and hunt its prey down. Being able to access such food, means that there is a sufficient supply in food, therefore, the Morsus platypus can reproduce with enough food needed to ensure a healthy new generation of its kind without any threat of extinction. The Morsus platypus breeds in underground burrows, similar to the burrows of Ornithorhynchus anatinus. The number of babies born from the female Morsus platypus increased, from 1 to 3, to 3 to 6.

**Predator and Prey** There would be an increase in both predators and prey. The Morsus platypus would be hunted by bigger predators, which include, crocodiles, big lizards, eagles, quolls, snakes, etc, because the range and area where these type of platypuses can be found have increased also. Although, the Morsus Platypus can easily attract predators from land, water and predators who fly, the Morsus platypus is hidden well underneath ground, camouflaged within grassy areas and also light weighted, fast swimmers. The Morsus platypus hunt larger prey, such as big fishes, small mammals like birds, possums and rats. Due to the smaller size of its body, the Morsus platypus spend less time hunting as one hunt of a larger animal can fulfill its appetite. The Morsus platypus has a better aim Not only it can swim for long periods of time underwater, the Morsus platypus is also able to climb short trees, to catch birds and other insects that live on trees using its sharp claws.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">**ADAPTATIONS:**

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">**Sharper Venomous Bills** <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">The bills of the Morsus platypus have evolved to become a more effective weapon. The bill of the Morsus has developed into a rounder and sharp pointed version of the platypus from 50 million years ago. The electro-receptors that help the platypus sense its food underwater still remain. What has changed is that the bill of the platypus has become more venomous. Venomous glands on the platypus bill have been developed and are located on the tip and bottom of the bill. If platypus is under attack, it will release venom with just one touch. The venom can cause excruciating pain for a few minutes depending how much venom there is, afterwards it would bring numbness, blocking the senses of the victim. This sharp, hard bill can also crush hard surfaces and dig into the earth without much difficulty. The environmental factors that cause this adaptation is that the Morsus platypus needs stronger defence for its predators and better abilites to hunt for the prey that satisfies them.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">** Furless ** <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; line-height: 115%;">The Morsus platypus is furless, which decreases its time spent to groom its fur, rubbing against sides of banks. With no fur, the platypus can remain its dryness through wet seasons that are not suited for breeding. Also, being furless decreases the chances for the Morsus platypus to overheat. The platypus 50 million years ago frequently overheated as it had a low body temperature and also fur. No fur reduces the amount of parasites the Morsus platypus needs to deal with. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">The environmental factors of this adaptation is that it helps the Morsus platypus become more adjusted to the its diverse, harsh environments.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">**Smaller and Flatter Body Size** <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: medium;">The average size of Ornithorhynchus anatinus, 50 million years ago, was 50 cm, while the Morsus platypus has an average size of 35cm. The two main advantages for the Morsus platypus to have a smaller and flatter body is that it does not need a large amounts of food to fulfill its appetite and can escape from predators quickly. It allows the platypus to travel faster underwater and on land. Also, the burrows that they dug were smaller to fit the size of the Morsus platypus. The environmental factor that caused a smaller body could have been the insufficient food supply in many areas they hunted in, causing the platypus to evolve with smaller bodies. This adaptation helps the Morsus Platypus survive, as it could easily be eaten by large predators.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">**Larger Webbed Feet and Sharper claw** <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">The large webbed feet and claw of the Morsus platypus has helped the platypus swim faster underwater as it can dive smoothly. The large webbed feet helps the platypus swim faster away from predators or to catch fast prey more efficiently like fishes. The Morsus platypus is also equipped with sharper claws that can help the platypus climb up small lengthed tree trunks and crush and dig through the solid gound of its habitat to make burrows for resting and breeding. The environmental factor that caused this could have been the ability and skill for the platypus to catch its prey, this adaptation helps them find and catch prey easily. Another factor, would be the speed of the prey, this adaptation can help the Morsus platypus by speeding up the time needed to catch prey. Without this adaptation, the Morsus platypus may starve to death at it is unable to find and catch food for itself.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">** Living in Packs ** <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> The Morsus Platypuses live in pack of around 6 to 8. Living in a pack gives them many advantages which include a higher chance in finding food by sharing prey that the whole pack has hunted. The responsibilities of each Morsus platypus is shared, these responsibilities include incubating eggs, hunting for food, guarding burrows and making new burrows for a bigger pack. By living in packs, the Morsus platypuses rely on one another for protection and defence against large predators. Males stay closer to other males because they have similar jobs in the pack which include hunting, while females stay behind most of the time to looks after the young. The environmental factor that caused this is that the Morsus platypuses had to eat larger animals in order to survive and adapt. This adaptation brings advantage as It is easier for larger groups of platypuses to attack and hunt large animals than a single platypus hunting small animals on its own.

__ **SELECTION PRESSURE** __
 * Competition over food, caused the Morsus platypus to become a carnivore, hunting larger prey including possums
 * Rapidly changing environment with extreme weather (hot during daytime and cooler during night time), with no fur it is protected from overheating in the summer.
 * Not enough food resources, forcing the Morsus platypus to find food not within its diet, meaning larger prey.
 * Improved defense mechanism, like the sharp bill and claws gives an advantage to the platypus, due to the increasing number of predators

__**BIBLIOGRAPHY**__
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