Duck Billed Platypus

In a crowded field, the Duck Billed Platypus probably takes the crown for the weirdest land animal. Although they’re mammals, they don’t give birth to live young but instead lay eggs like their reptilian ancestors did and although they feed their young milk like other mammals, they don’t have nipples instead secreting milk through glands on the female’s belly for their young to lap up.

Looking like a cross between a duck, an otter and a beaver, the platypus is found in rivers and billabongs throughout eastern Australia and Tasmania and is so strange looking that early european scientists didn’t even believe they were a real animal,

They spend much of their lives underwater, searching for worms, insects and shellfish along the riverbed and although their ‘bill’ looks hard it is actually soft and contains 40,000 electroreceptors which help it find its food in the dark.

Platypuses have no teeth but swallow small bits of shell and gravel with their food to help them ‘chew’ it before swallowing.

And lastly the male of the species is one of only a very small number of mammals to be venomous, possessing spines on its hind feet which it can use for self defence..

Natural History Prints by wildlife illustrator and author Ben Rothery.

Taken from his books, Ben's wildlife prints are inspired by nature and by traditional natural history illustration but presented with a contemporary twist. The print collection features over 150 different animals from bold and beautiful species to interesting but ugly ones, too, and make the perfect addition to any home.

Printed with archival inks on 100% cotton rag, german etching paper, all prints are guaranteed not to fade for at least 150 years, and are hand signed with limited edition items numbered.

Charitable Donation:

10% of the profit from each sale a goes to support the work of the various wildlife conservation groups, including the Namibian Pangolin Action Group, an NGO who do vital work on the ground in Southern Africa to protect these critically endangered animals.

You can find more about their work here.

Printing:

Giclee Archival inks on 100% Cotton Rag, German Etching Paper by Hahnemuehle.  We’ve chosen this process and paper stock as it allows us to get as close as possible to the look and feel of the original artwork. Printed in Bath, England. 

Shipping:

Prints are provided unframed. Small prints are shipped in board backed envelopes while large prints are wrapped in acid free tissue & rolled into a strong cardboard tube.

Standard shipping is by Royal Mail first class and we aim to dispatch orders within 3-5 working days.

Size chart:

A0: 841 x 1189 mm / 33.1 x 46.8 in

A1: 594 x 841 mm / 23.4 x 33.1 in

A2: 420 x 594 mm / 16.5 x 23.4 in

A3: 297 x 420 mm / 11.7 x 16.5 in

A4 : 210 x 297 mm / 8.2 x 11.7 in