SYDNEY -- Australia's platypus is an animal so strange it would not be out of place in a "Star Wars" cantina -- an egg-laying mammal with the bill of a duck, the tail of a beaver and a unique way of nurturing its young by excreting milk through its belly like sweat.
Australian scientists believe this primitive lactation method, where a newly hatched platypus must lick milk directly from its teat-less mother's belly, delivers a "miracle milk" with high levels of nutrition and immune protection.
%2520Baby%2520elephant%2520gets%2520a%2520breakfast%2520treat%2520at%2520the%2520Four%2520Seasons%2520Golden%2520Triangle%2520Resort.jpg?width=178&fit=cover&gravity=faces&dpr=2&quality=medium&source=nar-cms&format=auto&height=100)
