Aquatic courtship rituals

Female platypuses are in charge of breeding encounters, according to Dr Jessica Thomas, senior keeper at Healesville Sanctuary. Observing captive platypuses courting and mating as part of her doctoral research, Jessica said the female took evasive action to avoid the male until she was ready to breed. “The males have got very high testosterone levels during the breeding season, which also makes them very aggressive.” In the wild, they sometimes try to dig their venomous spurs into rival males.

As the female came into season, she began playing around in the same pond as the male. “Then the next stage is the male bites the female on the tail and she bites him on the tail”, says Jessica. The couple then began an elaborate courtship dance, doing barrel rolls, twists and turns. They continued courtship for much of the day for up to two weeks. After a brief mating, over one or two nights, the pair went their separate ways. The female dug her own nesting burrow in which she laid her eggs. Jessica used an infra-red camera to observe the nestlings’ behaviour and development in the burrow. The mother fed the babies for about 128 days, Jessica reveals. Her research will now be used to improve knowledge of how to breed and manage platypuses in captivity.