platypus
The first monotremes may have evolved about 150 million years ago. Early monotreme fossils have been found in Australia. An example is a genus called Steropodon , shown in Figure below . It may have been the ancestor of the platypus. Early monotremes retained some of the traits of their therapsid ancestors. For example, they laid eggs and had a cloaca. These traits are still found in modern monotremes.