An international team of researchers has decoded the genome of one of the world's oddest animals, and found its DNA pattern to be as strange as the animal's appearance.
Researchers have unlocked the DNA of one of the world\'s oddest creatures, the duck-billed platypus. Image: Platypus diving. Credit: Wikipedia
The unique duck-billed platypus , which incorporates features of reptiles and birds yet is classified as a mammal because it produces milk and is covered in fur, is one of only two mammals which lays eggs rather than live young. It also sports a duck-like bill and a tail similar to a beaver.
"The fascinating mix of features in the platypus genome provides many clues to the function and evolution of all mammalian genomes," says Richard K. Wilson, Ph.D., director of the The Genome Center at Washington University and the paper's senior author. "By comparing the platypus genome to other mammalian genomes, we'll be able to study genes that have been conserved throughout evolution."
Scientists discovered the odd combination of mammal and reptile is also reflected in the platypus' genes with evidence of an ancient reptilian ancestor and more recent mammalian features. However in a surprise, the scientists found the gene sequences responsible for determining sex are more like a bird's than a mammal's, reports the New Scientist .
"It's wonderful to see all of the different mishmash of features that the platypus exhibits; to see those features reflected in the DNA, in the genes of this creature, which has held mysteries for the scientists and the general population ever since it was discovered 200 years ago," said Dr Chris Ponting, of the MRC Functional Genetics Unit at the University of Oxford , UK, to the BBC. Dr Ponting was one of more than 100 researchers from the US, UK and Australia, who took part in the study.
The unique platypus caused consternation in the scientific community when it was first brought to England from its native Australia in the 19th century. Researchers believed the combination of features was so bizarre the animal must have been a fake.
The study will help platypus researchers investigate population size, structure and breeding habits said Dr Mark Batzer, from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, who also worked on the study.
"In the case of the platypus, clearly we learned a lot about a unique organism that has relevance in terms of its endangered status and conservation biology," he said.
"One big surprise was the patchwork nature of the genome with avian, reptilian and mammalian features," he said to the BBC.
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