Swaying, waving, strolling, digging, and spawning. There is no shortage of verbiage when it comes to describing monotremata – the A taxonomic arrangement consists of only two animals, the platypus and the hedgehog. Rumble off many strange Traits of these creatures The cup is in News coverage – and almost impossible to avoid, as they are mammals that lay eggs and sweat milk, among other things Strange features.

But perhaps the easiest way to outline the tremendous evolutionary success of monoblasts is to go straight into their DNA. A team of 40 researchers from Australia, China, Japan, Denmark and the United States did just that in a recent review of monotremes genomes. Their findings Published in the journal Nature.

The first draft came and analyzed the genome sequencing of the platypus Back in 2008. The last sheet includes a spikeQuality update for this sequence and the first echidna genome ever (for some reason, The agitation is Always the second violin for the platypus). Interestingly, monotremes are located midway between an egg and a lifespan – an indication of where the embryos develop, in the oocytes or in the parent body. This is neither reflected here nor in the protein dependency of the animals.

„During their short incubation period, they retained one of the three main egg proteins used to make chicken yolk,“ said Marilyn Renfrey, a zoologist at the University of Melbourne and co-author of the study. Press release, „But after hatching, both platypuses and echidnas have complex echidnas like other mammals to support their young during their long nursing period.“

Monotremes are a peculiar branch of the tree of life, as they help bridge gaps in our understanding when animals with specific traits are separated from one another.

Actually, tThe platypus belongs to the class Mammalia. „But genetically, it’s a mixture of mammals, birds and reptiles,“ Guojie Zhang, a biologist at the University of Copenhagen and co-author of the latest study, said in a press release. „It has preserved many of the original traits of its ancestors – which may contribute to its success in adapting to the environment in which they live.“

And animals need this extra reinforcement. Made Australian bushfires last year Platypus Tracking Efforts More difficult, as well as more urgent. (One group was rescued and returned to the wild this summer.) Sequential acquisition of the echidna genome will allow the genetic management of similarly threatened species. After all, we just can’t get our bizarre, shiny creatures to go the way of Tasmanian Tigers and Dodo.