To waddle, squirm, stroll, dig, lay eggs. There is no lack of verbiage when it comes to describing monotremata – de taxonomic order consisting of only two animals, the platypus and the echidna. Rattling on the numerous weird properties of these beings into the tropics coverage – and it’s nearly impossible to avoid, as they’re mammals that lay eggs and sweat, among other things bizarre features.
But perhaps the easiest way to outline the monotremes’ amazing evolutionary success is to go straight into their DNA. A team of 40 researchers from Australia, China, Japan, Denmark, and the United States did just that in a recent review of the monotremes genomes. Their findings are published in the journal Nature.
The first design and analysis of the platypus genome sequence came back in 2008. The recent paper contains onequality update of that sequence and the very first echidna genome (for some reason the echidna is always second fiddle to the platypus). Interestingly, monotremes are halfway between oviparity and vividness – referring to where embryos are developed, in eggs or in the parent body. This neither-here-nor-thence is reflected in the protein dependence of the animals.
“During their short incubation period, they preserved one of the three main egg proteins used to make chicken yolk,” said Marilyn Renfree, a zoologist at the University of Melbourne and co-author of the study, in a press release, ” but after hatching, both platypus and echidna have a complex milk like other mammals to support their young during their long lactation. “
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The monotremes are a peculiar branch of the tree of life, in the sense that they help fill gaps in our understanding of when animals with certain traits split off from each other.
‘Indeed, tThe platypus belongs to the Mammalia class. But genetically it is a mixture of mammals, birds and reptiles, ”said Guojie Zhang, a biologist at the University of Copenhagen and co-author of the recent study, in a press release. “It retains many of the original features of its ancestors – which likely contribute to its success in adapting to the environment in which they live.”
And the animals need that extra boost. The Australian bushfires that started last year attempts to track the platypus more difficult and all the more necessary. (A population was rescued and returned to the wild this summer.) Having the echidna genome sequenced will allow genetic management of a similarly endangered species. After all, we can’t let our illustrious weird bugs go the way of the thylacine and the dodo.