Lightest egg-laying mammal
- Who
- Ornithorhynchus anatinus, Platypus
- Where
- United Kingdom
- When
- 01 January 0001
The lightest species of egg-laying mammal or monotreme is the platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) of mainland Australia and Tasmania. Male platypuses typically weigh 1.0-2.4 kg, females 0-7-1.6 kg.
The common or short-beaked echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus, Australia's and New Guinea's most familiar species of egg-laying spiny anteater, is shorter in length than the platypus, but is much heavier.