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Related Experiment Videos

Electroreception and electrolocation in platypus.

H Scheich, G Langner, C Tidemann

    Nature
    |January 5, 1986
    PubMed
    Summary
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    The platypus, a unique Australian monotreme, possesses electroreceptors in its bill, enabling it to detect prey via electrical fields. This finding reveals electroreception in a higher vertebrate, suggesting independent evolution of this sensory system.

    Area of Science:

    • Zoology
    • Sensory Biology
    • Evolutionary Biology

    Background:

    • Electroreception is known in ancient fishes and amphibians for prey detection.
    • In some fish, electroreception is an active system for environmental sensing and communication.
    • Electroreception was not previously reported in higher vertebrates.

    Purpose of the Study:

    • To investigate electroreception in the platypus, a nocturnal, diving monotreme.
    • To determine if the platypus bill is electroreceptive and its sensitivity range.
    • To explore the evolutionary implications of electroreception in monotremes.

    Main Methods:

    • Behavioral observations of object avoidance by platypuses.
    • Recordings of cortical evoked potentials from the platypus bill.

    Related Experiment Videos

  • Analysis of electrophysiological sensitivity to direct current (d.c.) and alternating current (a.c.) fields.

    • Main Results:

    • Platypuses can locate and avoid objects using d.c. electrical fields.
    • The platypus bill is an electroreceptive organ, sensitive to approximately 50 microV cm-1.
    • High-frequency a.c. sensitivity suggests detection of prey's bioelectric fields.

    Conclusions:

    • The platypus bill is a sophisticated electroreceptive organ.
    • Electroreception in the platypus likely evolved independently from that in fish.
    • This discovery expands the known vertebrate diversity of electroreception.