XXV. MAMMALS (conlinued) 



Chordata {continued) 

 The Egg-laying Mammals {Monotremata) 



The order Monotremaia includes those animals in ivhicJi 

 the mammary glands are devoid of teats. Unlike all other 

 mammcds the members 

 of this order deposit 

 eggs, the duckbill two 

 and the spiny ant-eater 

 usually one. Moreover, 

 a cloaca is present into 

 •which the ureters cmd 

 urinary bladder enter 

 separately. 



Duckbill. — Living in 

 Austi'alia and the ad- 

 jacent island of Tas- 

 mania is a curious and 

 interesting animal 

 known as the duckbill 

 (Fig. 205). It is eight- 

 een to twenty inches 

 long, from the tip of its 

 bill to the tip of its flat 

 tail ; and its body is covered with thick, dark brown fur 

 excej^t on the bill and feet. The feet have five toes fui-- 

 nished with strong claws, and the toes are webbed. The 



311 



mm 



Fig. 20.5. — DuckbilL 



