How /why can platypuses adapt to the Australian environment?
Platypuses developed in the Australian environment, so the only offer option open to them was extinction. They’re actually specialized to a rather narrow part of the overall environment; gently running watercourses or lakes with the right surrounding conditions. For example, they don’t tropical weather and that stops them spreading too far north. It also keeps them away from nasty crocodiles. They’re now confined to southeastern Australia and Tasmania with perhaps still some limited presence in South Australia. As they developed in Australia, they’re also pretty much dependent on the watercourses and lakes having native vegetation growing on the banks. Nasty imports from Europe can play havoc with their burrowing activities, as the roots don’t hold the soil together in the appropriate way. There also has to be a good coverage of native vegetation so as to give them a required level of security from spies.
