Non-Fiction Critical Analysis

 The Platypus Is Cute But Far From Harmless by Henry Fountain

The article The Platypus is Cute But Far From Harmless by Henry Fountain from the New York Times Science Times, is about how dangerous platypi can really be to other predators. Many people thick they are harmless because they are so charming and likable. Henry Fountain interviewed an expert to tell us more, and wrote the article to inform us on how threatening these lovable mammals are. He interviewed experts to show that this issue is the legit. For example, “Dr. Maturin states ‘A platypus is among the few mammals that produce venom.” This example shows that Dr. Maturin nows what he is talking about and that Fountain knows what he is writing.

Interviewing experts makes it seem real and more reliable then just researching things on the internet. That is why he interviewed Dr. Maturin. Dr. Maturin also stated, “That a new study shows that [because of the venom] they can be [more] harmful to predators [than we thought].”
“… That can produce venom (only the males can produce the venom). That same study also proved “that is more harmful because we didn’t know what chemicals were in the venom. The chemicals in the venom are very toxic. Another study is trying to show what is really in the toxic chemicals that make it so painful. For example, “Using high-performance liquid chromatography and other techniques, Masaki Kita of the University of Tsukuba, Daisuke Uemura of the Nagoya University and colleagues analyzed venom samples and identified about a dozen peptides, small chains of amino acids that are the building blocks of proteins.” Experts and people studying to become experts in an area, know what they are genuinely talking about which is why they are so reliable.

I think this article was helpful in answering questions about the unknown venoms in this incredible animals. And it informs the reader about how harmful these cute mammals are. And most importantly that we need to protect these animals since they currently only found in Australia, and are or is on the verge of going extinct. But for me it raised more questions than answers like: why don’t females have the venom? How will the females [in that case] protect themselves? How do they produce it? Where is it stored? Maybe other studies and articles and experts can tell me more.