Definition
The Australian platypus, Ornithorhynchus anatinus, and the two species of spine covered echidnas, Tachyglossus aculeatus and Zaglossus brujnii, are the only surviving species of monotremes. Among the three tribes of extant mammals, monotreme, marsupial and placental mammals, monotremes are the most primitive and limited to Eastern Australia, Tasmania, and New Guinea.
Since little is known about the role and function of the electric sense in echidnas this article focuses mainly on the platypus. The nocturnally diving platypus subsists entirely on live food caught during nightly dives in lakes and streams. With eyes, nostrils, and ear canals closed underwater, its ability to locate and catch mobile prey like crayfish, shrimp, and small fish is unlikely to depend exclusively on the remaining tactile sense of the bill which has long been known to be covered with mechanoreceptor organs. Behavioral experiments have shown that the platypus can detect weak electric fields. It...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Scheich H, Langner G, Tidemann C, Coles RB, Guppy A (1986) Electroreception and electrolocation in platypus. Nature 319:401–402
Gregory JE, Iggo A, McIntyre AK, Proske U (1987) Responses of electroreceptors in the platypus bill to steady and alternating potentials. J Physiol Lond 408:391–404
Bohringer RC, Rowe MJ (1997) The organization of the sensory and motor areas of cerebral cortex in the platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus). J Comp Neurol 174:1–14
Krubitzer L, Manger PR, Pettigrew JD, Calford MB (1995) Organisation of somatosensory cortex in monotremes: in search of the prototypical plan. J Comp Neurol 352:261–306
Manger PR, Pettigrew JD (1996) Ultrastructure, number, distribution and innervation of electroreceptors and mechanoreceptors in the bill skin of the platypus, Ornithorhynchus anatinus. Brain Behav Evol 48:27–54
Pettigrew JD, Manger PR, Fine SLB (1998) The sensory world of the platypus. Phil Trans R Soc Lond B 353:1199–1210
Langner G, Scheich H (1986) Electroreceptive cortex of the platypus marked by 2-deoxyglucose. First Int Congr Neuroethol Tokyo, Japan 63
Fjällbrant TT, Manger PR, Pettigrew JD (1998) Some related aspects of platypus electroreception: temporal integration behaviour, electroreceptive thresholds and directionality of the bill acting as an antenna. Phil Trans R Soc Lond B 353:1211–1219
Proske U, Gregory JE (2003) Electrolocation in the platypus – some speculations. Comp Biochem Physiol A 4:821–825
Andres KH, von Düring M (1984) The platypus bill. A structural and functional model of a pattern-like arrangement of cutaneous sensory receptors. In: Hamann W, Iggo (eds) Sensory receptor mechanisms. World Scientific, Singapore, pp 81–89
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2009 Springer-Verlag GmbH Berlin Heidelberg
About this entry
Cite this entry
Langner, G., Scheich, H. (2009). Electric Senses in Monotremes: Electroreception and Electrolocation in the Platypus and the Echidna. In: Binder, M.D., Hirokawa, N., Windhorst, U. (eds) Encyclopedia of Neuroscience. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-29678-2_2919
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-29678-2_2919
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-23735-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-540-29678-2
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesReference Module Biomedical and Life Sciences