The Platypus

I read somewhere that the platypus knows its world through its bill. Because it spends most of its time in dark, murky waters, its eyes are not much use to it; to compensante, bioelectricity courses through the platypus' bill and creates an electromagnetic field. In that way, if anything comes within the range of the field, the animal senses the corresponding alteration in the field lines, and "sees".

What does the platypus perceive? Can it know colour and texture? Possibly not, and yet they seem so obvious to us... Perhaps there are other qualities to reality that we ourselves are not aware of because of our sensory apparatus. Maybe the platypus knows some of them... Or it may also be that neither platypi nor people sense anything that is real, and our senses only give us approximations of reality, enough to allow us to function in it.

I suppose the platypus does not feel the lack. Its senses have evolved to fit its needs, and the same applies to us. But what happens when needs change, or when we are (dumb? smart? cozy?) enough to ponder all this?