Platypus longevity: a new record in the wild and information on captive life span

Abstract

We report on a male platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) who was tagged in November 2000 at the age of 1 year and recaptured in September 2023, when nearly 24 years old, in a small creek system in Melbourne’s southeastern suburbs. By comparison, a female platypus recently reached the age of 30 years in captivity, though with signs of ageing that may have precluded her survival if she were living in the wild. Ten other captive individuals have lived to an age of more than 20 years in recent decades.