The echidna is an oviparous mammal from the family Tachyglossidae of the order Monotremata (monotremes). It is characterized by a stocky body that is covered in coarse hair and spines, short legs with heavily clawed toes, a vestigial tail, and a toothless jaw with a long and sticky tongue.
photo: Wayne Butterworth
It is often thought that the echidna is related to the porcupine due to their similarities in appearance. The echidna's diet consists mainly of ants and termites; very rarely it eats other insects and small animals. They live in New Guinea and Australia (including the island of Tasmania). The size of the territory that the echidna occupies directly depends on the amount of food.
photo:Brickwielder
Despite its very dangerous spines, the echidna is prey for a variety of birds and mammals, such as foxes, wild dogs and Tasmanian devils, and therefore occupies a corresponding place in the food chain. In addition, indigenous peoples and early European settlers used echidnas as a food source. They also fight ants and termites.
photo: Charlie Price
Echidnas are monotremes, meaning they represent one of the three main divisions of mammals. The remaining two groups, marsupials and placentals, give birth to live young. The physiological difference between monotremes and other mammals is that their reproductive, urinary and other systems are located in the same canal, the cloaca. Other female mammals have separate openings for reproduction, urination, and defecation. Like other mammals, echidnas are warm-blooded, with a high metabolic rate (though not as high as others).
photo:Laurence Barnes
The elongated and thin snout of the echidna has functions of both the oral cavity and the nose. With the help of their strong limbs and large claws, they easily dig the ground in search of food, and collect prey with their tongue.
photo:Georgie Brooke
The female echidna lays a single soft-shelled egg twenty-two days after mating and stores it directly in her pouch. This incubation takes ten days. The baby remains in the mother's pouch for 45-50 days, at which time it begins to develop spines.
Everyone knows about mammals from the school curriculum. Did you know that the egg-laying mammal is a separate species of animal that lives only on the territory of one continent - Australia? Let's take a closer look at this special type of animal.
Discovery of oviparous
For a long time, the existence of unique animals that reproduce by incubating eggs was not known. The first report of these creatures came to Europe in the 17th century. At this time, the skin of a marvelous creature with a beak and covered with wool was brought from Australia. It was a platypus. The preserved specimen was brought only 100 years later. The fact is that platypuses practically do not tolerate captivity. It is very difficult for them to create conditions during transportation. Therefore, observations of them were carried out only in the natural environment.
Following the discovery of the platypus came news of another creature with a beak, only now it is covered in spines. This is an echidna. For a long time, scientists argued about which class to classify these two creatures into. And they came to the conclusion that the platypus and echidna should be placed in a separate detachment. This is how the order Monotremes, or Cloacae, appeared.
The Amazing Platypus
A unique creature of its kind, nocturnal. The platypus is widespread only in Australia and Tasmania. The animal lives half in water, that is, it builds holes with access to water and land, and also feeds in water. The creature is small in size - up to 40 centimeters. It has, as already mentioned, a duck's nose, but at the same time it is soft and covered with skin. It just looks very similar to a duck. It also has a 15 cm tail, similar to that of a beaver. The paws are webbed, but they do not prevent the platypus from walking on the ground and digging holes well.
Since the genitourinary system and intestines of the animal exit into one opening, or cloaca, it is classified as a separate species - Cloacae. It is interesting that the platypus, unlike ordinary mammals, swims with the help of its front legs, and the hind legs serve as a rudder. Among other things, let's pay attention to how it reproduces.
Platypus breeding
Interesting fact: before breeding, animals hibernate for 10 days, and only after that the mating season begins. It lasts almost all autumn, from August to November. Platypuses mate in water, and after a period of two weeks, the female lays an average of 2 eggs. Males do not participate in the future life of the offspring.
The female builds a special burrow (up to 15 meters long) with a nest at the end of the tunnel. Lines it with damp leaves and stems to maintain a certain humidity so that the eggs do not dry out. Interestingly, for protection she also builds a barrier wall 15 centimeters thick.
Only after preparatory work does she lay eggs in the nest. The platypus incubates eggs by curling up around them. After 10 days, babies are born, naked and blind, like all mammals. The female feeds the babies with milk, which flows from the pores directly along the fur into the grooves and accumulates in them. Babies lick the milk and feed in this way. Feeding lasts about 4 months, and then the babies learn to get food on their own. It is the method of reproduction that gives this species the name “oviparous mammal.”
Extraordinary echidna
The echidna is also an oviparous mammal. This land creature is small in size, reaching up to 40 centimeters. It also lives in Australia, Tasmania and the islands of New Guinea. In appearance, this animal is similar to a hedgehog, but with a long narrow beak not exceeding 7.5 centimeters. Interestingly, the echidna has no teeth, and it catches prey with the help of a long sticky tongue.
The echidna's body is covered on the back and sides with spines, which are formed from coarse wool. The fur covers the belly, head and paws and is fully adapted for a certain type of nutrition. She feasts on termites, ants and small insects. She leads a diurnal lifestyle, although she is not easy to detect. The fact is that she has a low body temperature, up to 32 degrees, and this does not allow her to tolerate a decrease or increase in ambient temperature. In this case, the echidna becomes lethargic and rests under trees or hibernates.
Echidna breeding method
The echidna is an oviparous mammal, but this was only proven at the beginning of the 21st century. The mating games of echidnas are interesting. There are up to 10 males per female. When she decides she is ready to mate, she lies down on her back. At the same time, the males dig a trench around her and begin to fight for primacy. The one who is stronger copulates with the female.
Pregnancy lasts up to 28 days and ends with the appearance of one egg, which the female moves into the brood fold. It is still not clear how the female moves the egg into the pouch, but after 10 days the baby appears. The cub comes into the world not fully formed.
Young
The birth of such a baby is very similar to the birth of marsupial cubs. They also undergo final development in their mother’s pouch and leave her as adults, ready for independent life. Interesting fact: marsupial mammals are also common only in Australia.
How does a baby echidna appear? He is blind and naked, his hind limbs are not developed, his eyes are covered with a leathery film, and only his front paws have digits. It takes a baby 4 hours to get to milk. Interestingly, the mother has 100-150 pores in her pouch, which secrete milk through special hairs. The baby just needs to get to them.
The baby stays in the mother's pouch for about 2 months. He gains weight very quickly thanks to nutritious milk. Echidna milk is the only one that has a pink color due to the large amount of iron in it. Breastfeeding continues up to 6.5 months. Afterwards, the young animals learn to get food on their own.
Prochidna
The echidna is another oviparous mammal. This creature is much larger than its fellows. Habitat is the north of New Guinea and the islands of Indonesia. The size of the echidna is impressive, up to 80 centimeters, and its weight is up to 10 kilograms. It looks like an echidna, but the beak is much longer and the needles are much shorter. It lives in mountainous areas and feeds mostly on worms. The structure of the echidna’s oral cavity is interesting: its tongue has teeth, and with the help of it it is capable of not only chewing food, but, as has been noted, even turning over stones.
This species is the least studied, as it lives in the mountains. But at the same time, it was noticed that the animal does not lose mobility in any weather, does not hibernate, and is able to regulate its own body temperature. Reproduction of oviparous mammals, which includes the echidna, occurs in the same way as in the other two species. She hatches only one egg, which is placed in a pouch on her stomach, and feeds the baby with milk.
Comparative characteristics
Now let's look at the species of mammals that live on the Australian continent. So, what is the difference between oviparous, marsupial and placental mammals? To begin with, it must be said that all mammals feed their offspring with milk. But the birth of babies has huge differences.
Oviparous animals have one common feature. They lay eggs like birds and hatch them for a certain period of time. After the birth of the offspring, the mother’s body produces milk, which the babies feed on. It should be noted that the cubs do not suck milk, but lick it from the grooves on the female’s abdomen. The absence of nipples distinguishes oviparous mammals from other mammals.
They have a brood pouch, hence their name. The pouch is located on the abdomen of females. The newborn baby, having reached it, finds the nipple and seems to hang on it. The fact is that babies are born unformed and spend several more months in their mother’s pouch until they are fully developed. It must be said that oviparous and marsupial mammals have similarities in this regard. Baby echidnas and proechidnas are also born underdeveloped and are placed in a kind of brood fold.
What about placental mammals? Their babies are born fully formed due to the presence of the placenta in the uterus. Due to it, the process of nutrition and development of the baby occurs. The bulk of animals are placental.
This is the diversity of species that exists on one continent.
Order - Monotremes / Family - Echidnaidae / Genus - True echidnas
History of the study
The Australian echidna (lat. Tachyglossus aculeatus) is an oviparous mammal of the echidna family. It is the only representative of the true echidna genus Tachyglossus; sometimes its subspecies, the Tasmanian echidna, is distinguished as a separate species - Tachyglossus setosus.
The Australian echidna was first described in 1792 by the English zoologist George Shaw (he also described the platypus a few years later). Shaw gave it the name Myrmecophaga aculeata, mistakenly classifying this strange long-nosed animal caught on an anthill as an anteater. Ten years later, anatomist Edward Home discovered a common feature between the echidna and the platypus - a cloaca into which the intestines, ureters and reproductive tract open. Based on this feature, the order of monotremes was identified.
The echidna successively changed several more names - Ornithorhynchus hystrix, Echidna hystrix, Echidna aculeate, until it received the current one - Tachyglossus aculeatus. Its generic name translated from Greek means “fast tongue”; species - “prickly”.
Spreading
Lives throughout Australia, as well as in New Guinea, Tasmania, and on the islands located in Bass Strait. Habitats include plains, rainforests, mountains, and even cities.
Appearance
Outwardly, the animal most closely resembles a hedgehog - its entire body is covered with hard, coarse hairs, and its sides and back are studded with long, 5-6 cm, yellow needles with black tips. The Australian echidna grows up to 50 cm in length and weighs up to 7 kg. The tail and ears are so small that they are practically invisible.
The echidna's muzzle is very elongated, up to 7.5 cm in length, and plays an extremely important role in the life of the animal, since its vision is poorly developed, and the environment is learned mostly through smell and hearing. The mouth, which is a very small hole at the end of the muzzle, has no teeth, but it contains a sticky tongue that is 25 cm long.
The absence of teeth is compensated by the presence of hard pads in the back of the mouth, against which food is ground. In addition, along with food, soil and sand enter the stomach, which contribute to the final grinding of the prey.
Reproduction
Echidnas live so secretly that the peculiarities of their mating behavior and reproduction were published only in 2003, after 12 years of field observations. It turned out that during the courtship period, which lasts from May to September (the time of its onset varies in different parts of the range), these animals keep in groups consisting of a female and several males. Both females and males at this time emit a strong musky odor, allowing them to find each other. The group feeds and rests together; When crossing, echidnas follow in single file, forming a “train” or caravan. The female walks ahead, followed by males, of which there may be 7-10. Courtship lasts up to 4 weeks. When the female is ready to mate, she lies down, and the males begin to circle around her, throwing lumps of earth aside. After some time, a real trench with a depth of 18-25 cm is formed around the female. The males violently push each other, pushing them out of the trench, until only one winning male remains inside the ring. If there was only one male, the trench is straight. Mating (on the side) lasts about an hour.
Pregnancy lasts 21-28 days. The female builds a brood burrow, a warm, dry chamber often dug under an empty anthill, termite mound, or even a pile of garden debris near human habitation. Usually in a clutch there is one leathery egg with a diameter of 13-17 mm and weighing only 1.5 g. For a long time, it remained a mystery how the echidna moves the egg from the cloaca to the brood pouch - its mouth is too small for this, and its paws are clumsy. Presumably, when putting it aside, the echidna deftly curls up into a ball; in this case, the skin on the abdomen forms a fold that secretes sticky liquid. Freezing, she glues the egg that has rolled out onto her stomach and at the same time gives the bag its shape.
After 10 days, a tiny baby hatches: it is 15 mm long and weighs only 0.4-0.5 g. Upon hatching, it breaks the shell of the egg with the help of a horny bump on the nose, an analogue of the egg tooth of birds and reptiles. The eyes of a newborn echidna are hidden under the skin, and the hind legs are practically undeveloped. But the front paws already have well-defined toes. With their help, in about 4 hours a newborn moves from the back of the pouch to the front, where there is a special area of skin called the milk field, or areola. In this area, 100-150 pores of the mammary glands open; each pore is equipped with a modified hair. When the cub squeezes these hairs with his mouth, milk enters his stomach. The high iron content gives echidna milk its pink color.
Young echidnas grow very quickly, increasing their weight by 800-1000 times in just two months, that is, up to 400 g. The cub remains in the mother's pouch for 50-55 days - until the age when it develops spines. After this, the mother leaves him in the shelter and until the age of 5-6 months comes to feed him once every 5-10 days. In total, milk feeding lasts 200 days. Between 180 and 240 days of life, the young echidna leaves the burrow and begins to lead an independent life. Sexual maturity occurs at 2-3 years. The echidna reproduces only once every two years or less; according to some data - once every 3-7 years. But its low reproduction rate is compensated by its long life expectancy. In nature, the echidna lives up to 16 years; The recorded longevity record at the zoo is 45 years.
Lifestyle
Australian echidnas can live in almost any part of the mainland, regardless of the landscape. Their home can be both wet forests and dry areas, both mountains and plains. Even in cities they are not that uncommon.
True, echidnas do not tolerate heat and cold well because they do not have sweat glands. In hot weather they become lethargic, and in low temperatures they go into hibernation, which can last 4 months. During this period, they use up their subcutaneous fat reserves.
Echidnas love to eat well and eat a lot. To do this, they can walk quite long distances without stopping and resting, which can reach 10-15 kilometers per day.
Echidnas are loners by nature. They unite in groups only at the beginning of the mating season, and then scatter again. They do not protect their territory and do not build permanent shelters. Echidnas are free and free to travel wherever they please. Any secluded place will suit them for sleep and rest, be it a hole between the roots of trees, a crevice between stones, hollows of fallen trees, etc.
They move a little awkwardly. But they swim very well. Echidnas are able to swim across small bodies of water.
Nutrition
Echidnas feed mainly on ants and termites, which they obtain by tearing apart the ground and termite mounds with their powerful claws. These animals do not disdain other insects and earthworms. And although the echidna has no teeth, there are horny teeth on the back of its tongue that rub against the comb palate and grind its prey. With the help of its tongue, the echidna swallows not only food, but also small pebbles and particles of soil, which, when they enter the stomach, serve as millstones for the final grinding of prey - similar to what happens in birds.
Number
The Australian echidna is common in Australia and Tasmania and is not an endangered species. It is less affected by land clearing, since the Australian echidna does not have any special requirements for its habitat, other than a sufficient amount of food.
Australian echidna and man
Echidnas tolerate captivity well, but do not reproduce. It was possible to obtain offspring of the Australian echidna only in five zoos, but in none of the cases did the young live to adulthood.
The Australian echidna is featured on the 5-cent coin and on the $200 commemorative coin issued in Australia in 1992. Millie the Echidna was one of the mascots of the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.
Australian echidna in appearance it resembles a large light brown hedgehog. She walks slowly, but at the sight of a threat she can bury herself in the ground in an instant.
HABITAT
The Australian echidna is found in Australia, on the islands of Tasmania and New Guinea, usually settling in places with soft soil. Most often, damp lowlands overgrown with forest serve as its shelter, but the echidna can often be found in dry, rocky areas, where it is easy to find a reliable shelter among the rocks. In extreme heat, the echidna sits out in the shade because it does not tolerate high temperatures; however, she also hides in shelter from the rain.
LIFESTYLE
The Australian echidna leads a solitary lifestyle, occupying an area of about 50 hectares. She does not have a permanent home, and she walks freely around her site, only if necessary, using the first shelter she comes across. This could be a hollow in an old tree, a secluded corner in a thicket of bushes, or a crevice in the rocks. Having found a suitable place, the echidna spends the night there, if it is cold outside, and the hottest hours of the day. At the most comfortable time of day - morning and evening - she goes in search of loot. The main dish on the menu of this mammal is ants, termites and the larvae of various insects, which the echidna finds with the help of a keen sense of smell. Having dug out an anthill or termite mound with its strong paws, the animal sticks its narrow muzzle inside, and then a long and narrow tongue, covered with a sticky mucous secretion, to which the insects stick tightly. Having collected a portion of food, the echidna retracts its tongue and grinds the prey with horny denticles located on the palate and back of the tongue. The echidna searches for larvae by rummaging in piles of fallen leaves or moving fairly heavy stones. Sensing danger, it defends itself in two ways: on hard ground it curls up into a prickly ball, like a hedgehog, and on loose soil it instantly buries itself in the ground. After a minute, only sharp needles are visible on the surface, and only dingo dogs can dig the echidna out of such a trench. In winter, echidnas living in the mountains hibernate for several weeks, and then their body temperature drops to 4 °C.
REPRODUCTION
The mating season for echidnas is confined to the Australian winter, but the animals look for a mate ahead of time in July-August. A female ready for mating leaves behind an odorous trail on the ground, informing the male that a favorable partner is nearby. Having discovered this eloquent smell, the male rushes along the trail, and sometimes several suitors follow one female at once. The one who finds the “bride” first stays with her for several days, during which mating occurs. The female develops a primitive pouch on her belly, intended for the future egg. A few days later, the partners go in different directions, and two weeks after mating, the female lays one egg. To ensure that it gets directly into the pouch, the female rolls up into a ball at the moment of laying. After 7-10 days, the baby emerges from the egg, breaking the shell with a horny bump on the nose. The newborn reaches 11 mm in length and sits in the mother’s pouch for 8-9 weeks. The echidna has no nipples, and milk flows from the mammary glands directly onto the skin of the pouch, from where the baby licks it.
At about 9 weeks of age, the baby's skin becomes covered with spines; from that time on, the mother does not allow him to sit in the bag and, when going in search of food, leaves him in the hole, although from time to time she returns to feed her child. At 6 months, milk feeding stops, but for another six months the cub remains with the mother. A one-year-old echidna reaches sexual maturity and begins an independent life. Juveniles often become prey to predators introduced to Australia: foxes, cats or dingoes, but despite this, the population of Australian echidnas is not in immediate danger.
DID YOU KNOW?
- The echidna is capable of sticking out its tongue up to 18 cm. The Latin name of the animal, Tachyglossus, means “fast tongue.”
- During the period of activity, the echidna’s body temperature is about 32 °C. Thick fur and subcutaneous fat form a layer of thermal insulation, allowing the body to maintain a temperature higher than the surrounding temperature.
- The echidna's eyes are protected by a transparent "third eyelid".
- Echidnas are long-lived animals, capable of living up to 50 years in captivity, although to date no animal older than 16 years has been found in the wild. Echidnas tolerate life well in captivity, but reproduce very rarely.
- To get to the tasty larvae, the echidna rests its paws on the ground and with its back moves stones, sometimes twice as heavy as itself.
- The indigenous people of Australia hunt echidnas, considering their meat a delicious delicacy.
RELATED SPECIES
The echidna family includes five species, including the prochidna and the Tasmanian echidna. All of them live in Australia and on its neighboring islands - Tasmania and New Guinea. The platypus and echidnas are part of the order Monotremes - primitive egg-laying mammals. Their characteristic features are short legs, a small head and tiny eyes. Echidnas live on land, while the platypus is an amphibian.
Platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus)- inhabits South-Eastern Australia and the island of Tasmania. Lives solitarily, digging holes in the steep banks of rivers and lakes; feeds on mollusks, obtaining them in the water. Reaches a length of 60 cm and a weight of up to 2.5 kg. After 15-27 days of pregnancy, the female lays eggs in the hole and incubates them for another 7-10 days. In captivity, the platypus lives for about 17 years. In pursuit of valuable fur, people almost completely exterminated this species, so now it is under strict protection.
Australian echidna- an oviparous mammal of the echidna family. This is the only representative of the genus of true echidnas.
The Australian echidna was first described in 1792 by the English zoologist George Shaw (he also described the platypus a few years later). Shaw mistakenly classified this strange long-nosed animal, caught on an anthill, as an anteater. Ten years later, anatomist Edward Home discovered a common feature between the echidna and the platypus - a cloaca into which the intestines, ureters and reproductive tract open. Based on this feature, the order of monotremes was identified.
The Australian echidna is smaller than the echidna: its usual length is 30-45 cm, weight from 2.5 to 5 kg. The Tasmanian subspecies is somewhat larger - up to 53 cm. The echidna's head is covered with coarse hair; The neck is short, almost invisible from the outside. The ears are not visible. The echidna's muzzle is elongated into a narrow “beak” 75 mm long, straight or slightly curved.
Like the platypus, the echidna’s “beak” is richly innervated. Its skin contains both mechanoreceptors and special electroreceptor cells; with their help, the echidna detects weak fluctuations in the electric field that occur during the movement of small animals. No such electrolocation organ has been found in any mammal, other than the echidna and the platypus.
The echidna's limbs are shortened. The fingers are equipped with powerful flat claws, adapted for digging the ground and breaking the walls of termite mounds. After giving birth, females develop a brood pouch on their abdomen.
The Australian echidna is found in Australia, Tasmania, New Guinea and the islands of Bass Strait. Five of its subspecies are known.
This is a terrestrial animal, although if necessary it is capable of swimming and crossing fairly large bodies of water. The echidna is found in any landscape that provides it with enough food - from wet forests to dry bush and even deserts. It is found in mountainous areas, where there is snow part of the year, on agricultural lands, and even in the suburbs of the capital. The echidna is active mainly during the day, but hot weather forces it to switch to a nocturnal lifestyle. The echidna is poorly adapted to heat, since it does not have sweat glands, and its body temperature is very low - 30-32 °C. In hot or cold weather it becomes lethargic; when it gets very cold, it goes into hibernation for up to 4 months. Subcutaneous fat reserves allow her to fast for a month or more if necessary.
The echidna feeds on ants, termites, and less often other insects, small mollusks and worms.
The echidna leads a solitary lifestyle (except during the mating season). This is not a territorial animal - echidnas that meet simply ignore each other; it does not make permanent burrows and nests. The echidna rests in any convenient place - under roots, stones, in the hollows of fallen trees. The echidna runs poorly. Its main defense is thorns; the disturbed echidna curls up into a ball, like a hedgehog, and if it has time, it partially buries itself in the ground, exposing its back to the enemy with its needles raised.
Predators that hunt echidnas include Tasmanian devils, as well as cats, foxes and dogs introduced by people. People rarely pursue it, since the skin of the echidna is not valuable, and the meat is not particularly tasty. The sounds that an alarmed echidna makes resemble a quiet grunt.
Pregnancy lasts 21-28 days. The female builds a brood burrow, a warm, dry chamber often dug under an empty anthill, termite mound, or even a pile of garden debris near human habitation. Usually there is one leathery egg in the clutch.
In nature, the echidna lives up to 16 years; The recorded longevity record at the zoo is 45 years.
The Australian echidna is common in Australia and Tasmania and is not an endangered species. It is less affected by land clearing, since the Australian echidna does not have any special requirements for its habitat, other than a sufficient amount of food. The main danger to it is from motor vehicles and habitat destruction, leading to habitat fragmentation. The animals brought by the colonists hunt echidnas.
Echidnas tolerate captivity well, but do not reproduce. It was possible to obtain offspring of the Australian echidna only in five zoos, but in none of the cases did the young live to adulthood.
The Australian echidna is featured on the 5-cent coin and on the $200 commemorative coin issued in Australia in 1992. Millie the Echidna was one of the mascots of the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.
See information about other representatives of the fauna of Australia, among which is the only Australian marsupial leading an underground lifestyle -
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