Facts about Platypus Electrolocation
- 05
A platypus bill contains both electroreceptors and mechanoreceptors, and the brain processes these two sensory inputs in interleaved cortical stripes.
- 04
Electroreceptors in the platypus bill are arranged in rostrocaudal rows and are linked to a disproportionately large region of the brain's somatosensory cortex.
- 03
Unlike most mammals, platypus electrolocation works without vision, allowing the animal to hunt with its eyes, ears, and nostrils closed while submerged.
- 02
Platypus electrolocation is unique among mammals in that the animal sweeps its bill from side to side while swimming to triangulate the source of electrical signals.
- 01
The platypus detects prey underwater using thousands of electroreceptors in its bill that sense weak electric fields generated by muscle contractions.