Article
Article
Monotremata
Article By:
Szalay, Frederick S. Department of Vertebrate Paleontology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York.
Last reviewed:January 2021
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.433900
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- Monotremata, published June 2014:Download PDF
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A mammalian order containing the egg-laying platypus and echidnas. Members of the order Monotremata (monotremes) are egg-laying mammals belonging to the subclass Prototheria (in some alternative classifications, the monotremes have been assigned to the proposed subclass Yinotheria). Two living families—Tachyglossidae (echidnas) and Ornithorhynchidae (platypus; Fig. 1)—comprise this unusual order of reptile-like mammals. See also: Mammalia; Platypus; Prototheria
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