Interesting Echidna Facts: Characteristics, Diet, Habitat, Breeding, and Predators

Long peak Y beaked echidna shorts They are animals with a modified snout to form an elongated, beak-shaped organ. They have no teeth, a long protruding tongue, and in addition to normal hair, they have a number of special hairs on the sides and back that are modified to form sharp spines. The long-billed species, 45 to 90 centimeters (18 to 35 inches) in total length and 5 to 10 kilograms (11 to 22 pounds) in weight, is much larger than the short-billed species, which is only 30 to 45 lbs. centimeters (11 to 18 inches) long and 2.5 to 8 kilograms (6 to 18 pounds) in weight. In the short-beaked echidna, males are larger than females. In both species only the male retains the ankle spur on each hind leg.

Distribution

The status of the long-beaked echidna is in doubt, as its range is poorly studied. The short-beaked echidna is distributed throughout mainland Australia and Tasmania, where its status can be considered common. In Papua New Guinea it is still considered common in lowland areas, although both species are known to be preyed upon by humans for food.

Physical characteristics

Unlike the platypus, the ears and eyes of echidnas are not in the same groove; the ear opening (with little visible outer ear) is well behind the eye. The snout and protrusive tongue are used for food.

What do echidnas eat?

The short-beaked echidna mainly feeds on termites and ants, although insect larvae are also captured.


Acquire ants and termites by digging the mounds, galleries, and nests of these insects with the large claws on their front legs. The echidna then picks up the ants or termites with its sticky tongue.

It can push its elongated snout into small spaces and extend its tongue into small cavities to gain access to these insects.

The generic term Shorthand it actually means “fast tongue”. The long-beaked echidna is primarily a worm-eater. It uses spines lodged in a groove on its tongue to attract worms to its mouth. In both species, mucous secretions make the tongue sticky and, in the absence of teeth, the food material is ground between the spines at the base of the tongue and at the back of the palate.

Are they nocturnal?

Little is known about the activities of New Guinea echidnas, but in Australia echidnas can be active at any time of day, although they appear to be less active and remain buried in the ground or take refuge under rocks or vegetation in extreme hot or cold conditions. cold. .

They also appear to be less active during rainy weather. Like the platypus, they cannot tolerate high temperatures and will die from heat stress if shade is not available.


The short-beaked echidna’s digging ability is legendary, with individuals capable of digging vertically into the ground to disappear in less than a minute.

Echidna body temperature

Echidnas are endothermic and, like platypus, can regulate their body temperature well above room temperature by increasing their metabolism and using insulating fats and skins in the case of echidnas.

In all three monotreme species, the temperature maintained is lower than that found in many other mammalian species, but generally remains within a few degrees of D. Parera 32 ° C (90 ° F) while the animals are assets.

It is now known that the short-beaked echidna sometimes hibernates for two to three weeks during the winter in the Australian Alps, when the body temperature of individuals can drop to 4 to 9 ° C (39 to 48 ° F).

Breeding season

  • Little is known about the reproduction cycle of the long-beaked echidna. In short-beaked species, a pocket develops during the breeding season, in which an egg is laid.
  • After about 10 days of incubation, the hatchlings hatch and are fed milk extracted from the milk patches in the pouch, the prick of the hatchlings stimulates the flow of milk.
  • Lactation lasts up to six months, but once spines begin to grow in the calf (about nine weeks after hatching), it is left in a burrow where the mother returns to feed it.
  • As with the platypus, the breeding season is prolonged and mating normally occurs in July and August.
  • The length of gestation, before the female lays the egg, is not exactly known, but it is believed to be about three weeks.
  • Like female platypus, not all adult females in a short-beaked echidna population reproduce each year, but the reasons for this are unknown.

How long do echidnas live? – Average life

Both species of echidna are long-lived. A short-beaked echidna at the Philadelphia Zoo lived for 49 years, and a tagged individual in the wild was found to be at least 16 years old.

A long-beaked echidna survived for 31 to 36 years in the Berlin Zoo, during both world wars, but nothing is known about the longevity of this species in the wild.

Predators in the wild

Dingoes are known to feed on echidnas, despite the echidnas’ ability to burrow and their arsenal of spines. Foxes, feral cats and goannas raise young from burrows during the lactation period, but perhaps the greatest factor of mortality is the car.

The role of parasites or disease in mortality is largely unknown. Echidnas are easily kept in captivity, but rarely reproduce successfully in captive conditions.

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