Jack Ashby

And the answer is electroreception.

So as we're taught in biology classes at school, every muscular contraction, including our heartbeats, is controlled by an electrical impulse from our nervous system.

And platypuses can sense the world in these electrical impulses.

So they're basically hunting their worm and crayfish prey down by feeling their heartbeat.

The electrical impulse is given off by their heartbeats.

Yes, exactly.

So they kind of work like a metal detectorist, sweeping their bills around.

If you watch them, it's very back and forth.

They're also very, very sensitive to touch, so they can feel things too.

They don't need to use electricity all the time.

So this is a great story, I think.

Firstly, they have pouches like a hamster.

So whilst they're underwater, they stuff all their food into their cheeks, cheek pouches.

And then once they only eat on the surface.

And as I'm sure anyone who's been to the dentist knows, teeth are a really bad idea.

You know, like...

Sure, they can grind things up, but if they get damaged, it's kind of game over.

It's extremely unpleasant.

And platypuses eat really hard foods.

They smash many, many crayfishes a day.