![the platypus evolution the platypus evolution](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Icz5iGnNWRw/maxresdefault.jpg)
The platypus continues to lay eggs by virtue of this one remaining gene. Professor Zhang and colleagues demonstrated that platypuses still carry one of these three vitellogenin genes, despite having lost the other two roughly 130 million years ago. Chickens on the other hand, continue to have all three. One of the platypus’ most unusual characteristics is that, while it lays eggs, it also has mammary glands used to feed its babies, not through nipples, but by milk - which is sweat from its body.ĭuring our own evolution, we humans lost all three so-called vitellogenin genes, each of which is important for the production of egg yolks. “It holds the key as to why we and other eutherian mammals evolved to become animals that give birth to live young instead of egg-laying animals.” “At the same time, decoding the genome for platypus is important for improving our understanding of how other mammals evolved - including us humans.” “The complete platypus genome has provided us with the answers to how a few of its bizarre features emerged,” said senior co-author Professor Guojie Zhang, a researcher from BGI-Shenzhen, the University of Copenhagen, the Kunming Institute of Zoology and the Center for Excellence in Animal Evolution and Genetics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The platypus ( Ornithorhynchus anatinus) in Tasmania, Australia.