The echidna feeds by tearing open soft logs, anthills and the like, and using its long, sticky tongue, which protrudes from its snout, to collect prey. Echidnas have tiny mouths and toothless jaws. Their claws on their hind limbs are elongated and curved backwards to aid in digging. Įchidnas have short, strong limbs with large claws, and are powerful diggers. Echidnas use their electroreceptive beaks to sense earthworms, termites, ants, and other burrowing prey. The short-beaked echidna, which lives in a drier environment, has no more than 400 at the tip of its snout. Like the platypus, they are equipped with electrosensors, but while the platypus has 40,000 electroreceptors on its bill, the long-beaked echidna has only 2,000. They have elongated and slender snouts that function as both mouth and nose. There have been several reports of albino echidnas, their eyes pink and their spines white. They are usually black or brown in coloration. Superficially, they resemble the anteaters of South America and other spiny mammals such as hedgehogs and porcupines. The spines are modified hairs and are made of keratin, the same fibrous protein that makes up fur, claws, nails, and horn sheaths in animals. Physical characteristicsĮchidnas are medium-sized, solitary mammals covered with coarse hair and spines. Īn alternative explanation is a confusion with Ancient Greek: ἐχῖνος, romanized: ekhînos, lit.'hedgehog, sea urchin'. EtymologyĮchidnas are possibly named after Echidna, a creature from Greek mythology who was half-woman, half-snake, as the animal was perceived to have qualities of both mammals and reptiles. This ancestor was aquatic, but echidnas adapted to life on land. Echidnas live in Australia and New Guinea.Įchidnas evolved between 20 and 50 million years ago, descending from a platypus-like monotreme. The diet of some species consists of ants and termites, but they are not closely related to the true anteaters of the Americas, which (along with sloths and armadillos) are xenarthrans. The four extant species of echidnas and the platypus are the only living mammals that lay eggs and the only surviving members of the order Monotremata. Echidnas ( / ɪ ˈ k ɪ d n ə z/), sometimes known as spiny anteaters, are quill-covered monotremes (egg-laying mammals) belonging to the family Tachyglossidae / t æ k i ˈ ɡ l ɒ s ɪ d iː/.
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