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Echidna

Tachyglossus aculeatus

Description:

Echidnas, sometimes known as spiny anteaters, belong to the family Tachyglossidae in the monotreme order of egg-laying mammals. That are timid creatures covered in spines like a hedgehog, and when threatened rollup into a ball, spikes on the outside.They have very short, strong limbs with large claws, and are powerful diggers. Their diet consists of termites and ants. I saw 3 of these echidnas feeding at dusk and think perhaps it was a female followed by 2 males.

Habitat:

Seen along a sandy fire trail running parallel with the beach, 50 meters inland.

Notes:

The female lays a single soft-shelled, leathery egg 22 days after mating, and deposits it directly into her pouch. Hatching takes place after 10 days; the young echidna then sucks milk from the pores of the two milk patches (monotremes have no nipples) and remains in the pouch for 45 to 55 days, at which time it starts to develop spines. The mother digs a nursery burrow and deposits the young, returning every five days to suckle it until it is weaned at seven months. Male echidnas have a four-headed penis. During mating, the heads on one side "shut down" and do not grow in size; the other two are used to release semen into the female's two-branched reproductive tract. Each time it has sex, it alternates heads in sets of two. When not in use, the penis is retracted inside a preputial sac in the cloaca. The male echidna's penis is 7 centimeters long when erect, and its shaft is covered with penile spines. During breeding season, males will form lines up to ten individuals long, the youngest echidna trailing last, that follow the female and attempt to mate.

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7 Comments

pamsai
pamsai 9 years ago

Oh right! That is really long, and they look quite different. Thanks.

CharliePrice
CharliePrice 9 years ago

Yes i do :) they can have long snouts the short beaked , at times...and he defiantly has lots of spines. :) compared to a long beaked.
http://apscience.org.au/projects/APSF_09...

pamsai
pamsai 9 years ago

Charlie, Do you think the 1st photo is a short-beaked? It seems longer than the others. There were 3 of them together. First photo is the only shot of that one as it was further away. The other 2 were closer and definitely short-beaked.

pamsai
pamsai 9 years ago

More furry? Yes Charlie it's colder in Tas, they probably need to keep warmer!
Just checked out your beauty...

CharliePrice
CharliePrice 9 years ago

My most favorite of them all ..seen a little fellow on the way home from work on friday ..our's a little furrier than the ones down here on the isle. :)

pamsai
pamsai 9 years ago

thanks Karen...

KarenLZimmerman
KarenLZimmerman 9 years ago

Fantastic animal! Thank you for the amazing facts about them!

pamsai
Spotted by
pamsai

New South Wales, Australia

Spotted on Sep 6, 2014
Submitted on Sep 26, 2014

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