It’s early morning on the river. A platypus uses her webbed front feet to paddle to the bank. She pulls herself out of the water.

On land, she retracts the webbing in her feet and waddles into her den. She begins to dig soil loose with her claws. Today, she is building a new chamber off the main burrow.

Snout first, she enters the chamber. She kicks the soil with her back feet to seal herself off. She lays one egg. Then, another. She holds the small eggs between her body and tail to keep them warm.

After about two weeks, the eggs hatch. Out of each egg emerges a bean-size, pink platypus. They are hairless, blind, and helpless as they take a journey of inches to their mother’s belly. There, they latch onto her fur and wait to be fed.

Like all mammals, platypuses nurse their young. Unlike other mammals, milk leaks from openings between the folds of her belly skin. Babies suck the milk up through her fur. When they can swim and eat by themselves, they are ready for life on their own.