Studying the tiny animal, a 23-year-old found in a creek in Australia, offered hope for the threatened species and clues for how to help them survive. By John Yoon The platypus, a unique egg-laying ...

When Geoff Williams found and tagged a one-year-old male platypus as part of a survey in November 2000, he probably didn’t anticipate ever seeing the animal again. But more than two decades later, in ...

The platypus is found only in Australia, where it spends most of its life swimming in freshwater ponds and streams. Its incredibly sensitive bird-like bill contains thousands of electroreceptors.

“The platypus is the most touchy, temperamental, unpredictable animal,” says Australia’s David Fleay, and he should know. Called “the platypus man,” Fleay is the world’s leading authority on one of ...