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Platypuses Animal Themes

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Platypuses
Print Platypuses Reading Comprehension with Sixth Grade Work

Print Platypuses Reading Comprehension


Reading Level

	edHelper's suggested reading level:	grades 6 to 8
	Flesch-Kincaid grade level:	8.04

Vocabulary

	challenging words:		lakeshores, spur, lengthy, long-beaked, short-beaked, tunnel-like, undercoat, wetsuit, hairless, wean, egg-laying, horny, covering, shortly, monotremes, blue-gray
	content words:		British Museum, Natural History

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Platypuses

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¹     Can you picture an animal that has a beak shaped like a duck's, a tail like a beaver's, and a bone structure like a reptile's? Oh, did I also mention that this strange-looking animal lays eggs? Well, if you have a hard time picturing what this animal may look like, you are not alone.
 
²     When the British settlers in Australia had their first sighting of the platypus in 1797, they could not believe what they saw. Was the platypus a bird, a mammal, or a reptile? Upon examining a specimen, scientists back in England said it was a fraud. They suspected that the specimen had been made by stitching many different animals' body parts together. One scientist even used a pair of scissors to try to pry the "duck's beak" off the specimen! This very first platypus specimen, with scissor marks still visible, is preserved and on display in the British Museum of Natural History in London.
 
³     After many lengthy debates that lasted for almost a century, scientists finally confirmed that the platypus is a mammal. They classified it, along with the other two egg-laying mammal species (the short-beaked echidna and the long-beaked echidna), as monotremes.

Paragraphs 4 to 10:
For the complete story with questions: click here for printable

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Animal Themes

Animal Themes

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Mammals

Mammals

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Freshwater

Freshwater

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Animals

Amphibians         Birds         Deserts         Fish         Freshwater         Grasslands         Insects

Invertebrates         Mammals         Oceans         Polar Regions         Rain Forest         Reptiles

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