<
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/feb/15/worlds-oldest-platypus-found-in-the-wild-age-melbourne-water>
"The biologist who first tagged a one-year-old platypus back in 2000 was
astonished when it was recaptured last year, aged about 24, making it the
oldest platypus found in the wild.
The director of the Australian Platypus Conservancy, Geoff Williams, has been
researching the egg-laying mammals for decades, but said long-term research
into the species can be expensive and rare.
The discovery of the 24-year-old male is thanks to a program which commenced in
1994 with Melbourne Water. Hundreds of platypus have been captured and tagged
in the Melbourne area, so for them to reappear a few year’s later was not out
of the ordinary.
“But this one is just beyond all our expectations in terms of how old it was,”
Williams said. “It’s remarkable that this animal is still doing as well as he
is after all these years.”
The 24-year-old male is the focus of a study published this week, co-authored
by Williams, into platypus longevity. The male platypus was first captured and
tagged in November 2000 at Monbulk Creek in Melbourne, and estimated to be
one-year-old. He was recaptured along the same river system last September, at
about 24 years of age.
The previous record holder was a 21-year-old female platypus captured in the
upper Shoalhaven river in New South Wales."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
