Stacey Blackman, age 11, of Spokane, Wash., for her question:

WHAT DOES A PLATYPUS EAT?

A platypus is an animal that lives along streams on the mainland of Australia and on the island of Tasmania. It has a bill like a duck and is sometimes called a duckbill.

The platypus' leathery bill, which is located where most other animals have noses, is used to root out the animal's food: shellfish, worms and certain water insects which live on the bottom of streams.

An adult platypus uses horny plates in its upper and lower jaws to chew its food. The anilam does not have teeth.

A mother platypus will nurse its young with milk, just as other mammals do. The mother lays eggs instead of bearing her young alive, however. When the eggs hatch, the mother holds the young close to her body with her tail.