What does an echidna look like? Echidna animal - echidna photo

Echidna- an amazing animal that combines several species of mammals. Outwardly it resembles a porcupine, and in its lifestyle it resembles an anteater and.

Description and features of the echidna

Echidna in the photo resembles a porcupine due to its spiny back and small tail. However, its spines are not so long and are brownish-yellow in color. The animal's fur is coarse and has a brown tint, allowing it to blend in with the dark soil and fallen leaves.

The spines are made of keratin and are hollow inside. The size of the echidna rarely exceeds half a meter in length, and its weight can be compared to adult cat- up to 8 kg. Short clawed paws make the animal's gait clumsy, but the echidna swims well. The limbs have claws that help destroy anthills and termite mounds, tear off bark from trees, and dig holes for protection and sleep.

On hind legs There are long hooked claws with which the echidna combs the fur between the spines. Males have a distinctive “spur” on their pelvic limbs. It was assumed that this spur contained poison, but this turned out to be a mistaken belief.

The echidna has a very long and thin tongue, covered with teeth.

Vision is poorly developed and the animal relies on hearing and smell. Echidna's amazingly sensitive ears are able to detect the sounds of small insects underground and inside fallen trees. The main difference between the echidna and other mammals is the presence of a cloaca, like birds and amphibians.

The head is small in size and blends smoothly into the body. The animal does not have a pronounced neck. The beak has the shape of a tube with a long and sticky tongue, like that of an anteater (up to 25 cm). There are no teeth, but they are replaced by keratin denticles and a hard palate against which food is rubbed.

Echidna species

The echidnova family is not very diverse. It is divided into 2 genera: true echidna and proechidna. There is a third genus, but it is considered extinct - Megalibgwilla. The zoologist who first described the echidna, due to the similarity in structure oral cavity and language classified it as a species of anteater.

The echidna's front paws are equipped with powerful claws with which the echidna digs up the soil.

After studying the animal, scientists later identified the animal to a separate family. Only the Australian echidna is a true echidna. It has five subspecies, which are distinguished by their habitats.

Lifestyle and habitat

Lifestyle and habits echidnas V natural environment habitats depend on many factors. Each subspecies has its own characteristics and habitat. The behavior of the animal depends on the climate and terrain. Echidna lives on the Australian continent, the islands of Papua New Guinea, Tasmania, as well as in the territories of Indonesia and the Philippines.

The Australian echidna is able to adapt to different climatic conditions. She can live in an arid desert, in wet forests and foothills, where temperatures drop below 0.

When the cold season approaches, the echidna hibernates. Her body accumulates fat, which allows her to survive the lack of food. Hibernation is not a necessity for the animal. In a mild climate and constant access to food, the echidna leads a normal life.

In the absence of its usual food in the form of small insects, the mammal is able to travel long distances, including by water, without food. Fat accumulated during periods of abundant nutrition ensures survival for up to a month.

For the life of an echidna, the presence of basic food is necessary, and the animal easily adapts to the conditions of the environment and landscape.

During the cold season, the echidna hibernates

Features of echidna behavior:

1. The animal leads a secretive lifestyle and prefers to stay awake at dusk or at night.
2. Doesn't create permanent place residence.
3. When in danger, it burrows into the ground, spreading thorns on the surface. If the soil does not allow it to burrow quickly, it curls up into a ball, like hedgehogs.
4. Does not mate and prefers loneliness.
5. Does not limit its territory.
6. Not aggressive towards its own species. Having met, two echidnas will disperse in different sides.
7. It chooses soft soils, leaves, crevices and fallen trees as a place to sleep.
8. Due to the low body temperature for a mammal (up to 33 degrees), it cannot tolerate heat and cold. With a significant change climatic conditions, prefers to wait out the heat in the shade, and the extreme cold in hibernation.

At temperate climate The echidna travels at any time of the day, but in hot and dry regions it waits out the heat of the day in the shade of trees and stones. At unfavorable temperature the animal becomes lethargic and slow. In this state, it is impossible to escape predators well, so the animal hides until the opportune moment comes.

The adaptability of the animal makes it easy to keep it in captivity. Echidna in Russia and in other countries lives in zoos. However, the echidna is reluctant to reproduce in an artificial environment.

Nutrition

Echidna feeding small. The main diet is ants and termites. The structure of the oral cavity allows the thin and sticky tongue to penetrate deep into the home of insects. Along with the food, stones and sand enter the animal’s stomach, which also participate in the digestion process. Together with the ants, the echidna receives all the necessary substances, including water.

In the absence of anthills and termite mounds, the echidna animal temporarily replaces them with other small insects and larvae from trees. The special structure of the sense organs helps to detect insects. Good hearing, sense of smell and the presence of electrolocation allow you to quickly detect a cluster of termites or ants.

The echidna's tongue is ideally suited for collecting and eating small bugs. It is capable of making up to 50 emissions in 30 seconds. This speed does not allow the nimble insects to leave the ruined house. In the case of a lack of nutrition, the echidna changes its habitat. To do this, it is capable of covering long distances on land and water. To search for food, the animal is not afraid to approach human settlements and farms.

The echidna's favorite food is ants, termites and other small invertebrates.

Echidna Reproduction

The echidna, an animal that prefers a solitary life, meets with its relatives only during the mating period. It lasts from late spring before early autumn. Once every two years, a female ready for mating emits a strong odor and leaves marks that attract males. Several males court one female for a whole month.

During this period, echidnas live together. During the Australian winter, they warm themselves, eat and sleep together. After the stage of dating and courtship, the so-called “wedding ritual” begins.

A group of males, the number of which reaches 10 individuals, begin to circle around the female. They dig a ditch up to 30 cm deep and push their opponents. In the end, a winner is determined who is considered worthy of the “bride.”

After the groom has been identified, the process of intercourse begins. The animals lie on their sides for an hour. The fertilized female leaves the male forever; the survival of future offspring depends only on her.

Gestation of the egg continues for four weeks. Echidna is oviparous mammals. The echidna egg is about 15 mm in size. With the help of the abdominal muscles, the female forms a fold on her abdomen, into which she places the future calf. A week and a half later, a newborn echidna appears.

The animal is covered with translucent skin and is completely helpless. In the area of ​​the pouch there is a milky field, to which the newborn crawls with the help of its developed forepaws. Echidnas do not have nipples, so pinkish milk is secreted directly onto the surface of the skin, where it is licked by the baby. Pink color milk has due to high content it contains iron.

The echidna feeds its young with milk

For about two months, the female carries the small echidna in her pouch and feeds it with milk. The cub quickly gains weight, grows fur, and its eyes develop and open. After hatching, the size of the fetus is 1.5 centimeters and weighs less than one gram, and after 2 months its weight reaches 400-430 grams. The grown offspring have spines, and the female hides them in a prepared hole.

Visits once a week to feed full fat milk. The little echidna is under the care of its mother for up to six months, after which it sets off on its own adult journey. The echidna reaches sexual maturity at the age of 2 years. The slow rate of reproduction and small number of offspring is associated with good survival and a long life span.

Lifespan and natural enemies

Lifespan of the Australian echidna wild conditions is about 16 years old. In zoo conditions, there are known cases where an individual lived up to 45 years. In its habitats, the echidna is rarely the target of hunting. A harmless animal senses a predator long before it is detected. In such situations, the echidna leaves the hunter and hides in the thickets.

The echidna hides in the bushes from its potential enemies

If she can't get away, she takes a defensive pose. A predator, having discovered an impregnable “fortress” with thorns, most often does not take risks and retreats. If the animal is very hungry or is outnumbered, then they try to dig under the echidna from all sides in order to get to vulnerabilities.

The main enemies are:

• Tasmanian devil;
• Dingo dog;
• feral dogs;
• foxes;
• Human.

Local residents hunt the animal for its tasty and healthy fat, and jewelry is made from its needles. The Australian echidna population is not on the verge of extinction. These harmless animals are often found in their natural habitat. The main enemies for the population are roads. This is mainly due to the slowness of the animal.

The echidna animal can also be a pet. Thanks to its good disposition and non-aggressive behavior, it gets along with other inhabitants. When keeping an echidna, you should pay attention to its love of solitude. The enclosure should not be too small, in the sun or in plain view of everyone.

Echidna at home shows his penchant for digging the earth and rearranging stones. Therefore, if you let her out for a walk, it is important to prevent damage valuable plants and compositions.

In captivity, the echidna is able to do without its regular diet in the form of insects. She is a predator, so her diet includes crushed meat products, eggs, milk. The echidna will not refuse fruit puree or bread. Due to the absence of ants, the animal requires an additional source of water.

In any case, if an anthill or termite mound appears on the site, this will be a special gift for the domestic echidna. The echidna is an amazing animal that lives only in and adjacent islands. This animal is considered one of the symbols of the state and is depicted on money, postcards and postage stamps.

The echidna is a unique animal of its kind. It belongs to a small order of monotreme mammals. This group also includes: amazing creatures like platypuses. The Australian echidna is an extremely primitive creature that, although it feeds its offspring with milk, still retains the ability to lay eggs. It is believed that animals like this were an intermediate link between reptiles and mammals.

Echidna is a unique animal of its kind.

This animal was first described by the famous English zoologist George Shaw in 1792. Like many other relict creatures, echidnas live in a closed area. Monotremes have long since become extinct on other continents, but have survived in:

1. Australia.
2. Tasmania.
3. New Guinea.
4. Bass Strait Islands.

The Australian continent is very far from others, so the animals living on it have followed their own evolutionary path. The modern echidna is perhaps the most famous surviving member of the genus. The echidna lives almost throughout the entire territory of this continent. Economic activity humans has led to a significant decrease in the number of these animals.

Echidna - ant eater (video)

Physiological characteristics

Initially, researchers considered the echidna to be a relative of the anteater, but this is not true. Studying anatomical features These animals made it possible to identify their cloaca - an opening that hides the genital tract, ureter and intestines. This feature makes the echidna similar to birds and reptiles.

This animal looks quite unusual. Its entire back is covered with hard needles formed from compressed wool. The length of the spines reaches 6 cm. On the head, neck, stomach and paws, the creature’s body is covered with coarse hair. And the Australian echidna is distinguished by its rather modest size. The length of the creature usually does not exceed 30-45 cm. Weight can vary from 2.5 to 5 kg. The ears are almost invisible. The Australian echidna has an elongated muzzle, the size of which is approximately 7.5 cm. These creatures have no teeth.

This animal looks quite unusual. Her entire back is covered with hard needles formed from compressed wool.

Despite the fact that the echidna is a warm-blooded animal, its body temperature is unstable. Animals have to resort to certain tricks to maintain it within 30-32°C.

The creature does not have sweat glands, which are present in many species of mammals, so the problem of cooling is quite acute for it. IN hot weather Australian echidna goes to night look life. As the temperature drops, it becomes sluggish. When it gets very cold, the animal goes into hibernation, which can last more than 6 months.

The Australian echidna has very long claws. Thanks to them, the animal digs well and can break the walls of termite mounds to provide itself with food. The echidna has very sticky saliva and long tongue. They help the creature get ants and termites on which the animal feeds. Outwardly, these creatures really resemble giant anteaters, but these species are not related.

Echidnas' natural habitat allows them to find required amount stern. In rare cases, this creature can dilute its diet with small vertebrates. The animal has no teeth, so it grinds larger prey by moving its tongue across the roof of the mouth. In addition, the echidna swallows a small amount of sand while feeding. It promotes better grinding of food in the stomach.

The echidna is an extremely clumsy creature, but it is a good swimmer and can cross large bodies of water. Relatively recently, it was found that these animals differ good eyesight

. If there is any threat, the echidna burrows into the ground or curls up into a spiny ball. TO Animals include foxes and dingoes. These predators are able to cope even with an adult.

Echidna on a walk (video)

Gallery: animal echidna (25 photos)

Peculiarities of echidna reproduction

The reproduction process of these animals is of greatest interest. The echidna is a marsupial that reproduces in a specific way. Throughout the year, this creature leads a solitary lifestyle. Each individual, regardless of gender, protects a certain territory where there are termite mounds and other food sources.

Despite the fact that echidnas are excellent diggers, they do not have permanent shelters.

The breeding season lasts from early May to September. At this time, animals are looking for a partner. Females emit a characteristic musky odor that attracts echidnas from all surrounding areas.

A small group of 7-10 individuals is formed. Usually the female leads the way, followed by potential mates. The group feeds together and stops to rest. During the movement, the animals follow strictly one after another. Once the female is completely ready to breed, she lies down on her side and waits. Her potential mates continue to walk around her, pushing the earth onto her side. Through short period

a trench can be dug around the female, the size of which reaches about 25-30 cm. After such a peculiar struggle, only the strongest male remains. He mates with a partner lying on her side. Pregnancy in these animals lasts about 21-28 days.

At this time, the female digs a brood hole, which should be dry and warm. Here she produces only 1 egg, which has a leathery shell. In diameter it does not exceed 13-17 mm. Its weight is about 1.5 g.

The animal presses this ball to its stomach, trying not to move too much during this period. After about 7-10 days, the egg hatches into a baby. A special horny bump present on the nose helps him in this. The baby is poorly developed and may look too fragile. The eyes are still covered with skin. Only the front legs are well developed, while the hind legs are almost undeveloped. The baby echidna, deftly clinging to the tough fur, moves into the pouch. He is safe there. Echidnas do not have mammary glands or nipples to help feed their young. These creatures have special primitive glands through which they

milk is released.

The baby consumes this milk while remaining in the pouch. There it grows and forms. In just 2 months, a cub can increase its weight 100 times. At this time, its weight reaches about 400 g.

Usually the baby begins to leave his pouch at 50 days of age. The mother leaves the cub in the den, but comes to feed it 5-10 times a day. The duration of milk feeding in echidnas is about 200 days. The already formed cub continues to follow the mother, adopting necessary knowledge about the world around him, which he will need in adult life.

Attention, TODAY only!

The echidna is a very unusual animal. It is small-feeding, eats ants, is covered with spines, and has a tongue like a woodpecker. The echidna also lays eggs.

Who is this echidna?

The echidna is not talked about in the news or written about in fairy tales. It is extremely rare to hear about this animal. This is partly explained by the fact that there are not so many echidnas, or rather their habitats, on Earth. Today they live only in Australia, New Guinea and some islands in Brass Strait.

Externally, the echidna is very similar to a hedgehog or. On its back there are several dozen sharp needles, which the animal can raise in case of danger. The echidna's muzzle and belly are covered with short fur. " Business card"is a long nose, which makes them relatives of another rare animal - the platypus. Echidnovae are a whole family. It includes three genera, but representatives of one of them no longer exist.

The usual body length of an echidna is 30 centimeters. Short legs are equipped with powerful claws. With their help, the animal can dig well and quickly dig holes even in hard soil. When there is no reliable shelter nearby, and danger is nearby, the echidna is able to burrow into the ground, leaving only a hemisphere with sharp spines on the surface. If necessary, echidnas can swim well and overcome long water obstacles.

Echidnas lay eggs. There is only one egg in a “clutch” and is placed in a special bag. The cub is born after 10 days and lives in the same pouch for the first month and a half. The small echidna is fed with milk, but not from the nipples, but from special pores in certain places bodies called milk fields. After a month and a half, the mother places the cub in a prepared hole and feeds milk once every five days until the age of seven months.

Echidna lifestyle

The animal leads a solitary lifestyle, forming pairs only during the mating season. The echidna doesn't have a nest or anything like that. Any suitable place becomes a refuge and a place of rest. Leading a nomadic lifestyle, the echidna learned to see the slightest danger in advance and instantly respond to it.

The arsenal of detection means includes a keen sense of smell, excellent hearing and special receptor cells that detect changes electromagnetic field around the animal. Thanks to this, the echidna records the movements of even such tiny living organisms as ants. This ability helps not only to notice danger in time, but also to find food.

The main “dish” in the echidna’s diet is ants and termites. Long thin nose The animal is maximally adapted for their extraction from narrow crevices, manholes and burrows. But main role Tongue plays a role in getting insects. The echidna’s mouth is very thin, sticky and can stretch out of its mouth to a length of up to 18 centimeters. Ants adhere to the mucous membrane and are transported into the mouth. Woodpeckers extract insects from under the bark of trees in the same way.

One more interesting fact, is the absence of teeth in the echidna. In general, there is no need to chew ants, but the animal eats more than just them. The diet also includes worms, some insects and even shellfish! To crush them, the echidna's mouth has small keratin growths that rub against the roof of the mouth. Thanks to them, food is ground and enters the stomach.

In search of food, the echidna turns over stones, stirs up fallen leaves and can even remove bark from fallen trees. With a good food supply, it accumulates a fat layer, which helps to survive a possible lack of food in the future. When they come hard times“The echidna can live without food for up to a month.

Echidna – unique creation nature. It's really true! The origin of these unique animals has been studied very superficially and many questions about their life are controversial and are still considered open.

• By appearance The echidna looks like a hedgehog or, it also has almost the entire body covered with needles;
• the echidna lays eggs to continue its kind, which is more typical for birds;
• she carries her offspring in a special bag, just as kangaroos do;
• but she eats in the same way as.
• with all this, echidna cubs feed on milk and belong to the class of mammals.

Therefore, they often talk about the echidna as a “bird beast”. Look at photo of echidna, and much will become clear at just one glance. What kind of special creation is this, who is this viper?

Echidna and platypus belong to one order, which are known as monotremes (single-tremes). In nature, there are 2 varieties of echidna:

• spiny (Tasmanian, Australian)
• woolly (New Guinea)

The surface of the body is covered with needles, the length of which is about 6 centimeters. The color of the needles varies from white to dark brown, so the color of the animal is uneven.

In addition to needles, the echidna has brown wool, she is quite rough and tough. The coat is especially thick and quite long in the parotid area. In terms of size, the echidna is a small animal, about 40 centimeters.

Pictured is a woolly echidna

The head is small in size and almost immediately merges with the body. The muzzle is long and thin, and it ends in a small mouth - a tube, which is often called a beak. The echidna has a long and sticky tongue, but it has no teeth at all. In general, the beak helps the animal navigate in space, since vision is very poor.

The echidna moves on four legs; they are small in size, but very strong and muscular. She has five toes on each paw, which end in strong claws.

This unique miracle of nature, like , can curl up and turn into a prickly ball. If there is some source of danger or threat to life nearby, then the echidna buries itself in the loose soil with half of its body and puts out its needles as protection so that the enemy cannot get close to it.

Often you have to escape from danger by running away, here strong paws come to the rescue, which provide fast movement to a safe shelter. In addition to being a good runner, the echidna can also swim well.

Character and lifestyle of the echidna

Echidna lives in Australia, New Guinea and Tasmania. The life of the echidna was first described by Georg Shaw in 1792, and it was from that time that observation of this animal began. However, echidnas are quite secretive and do not like interference in their lives, which greatly complicates study and research.

Not in vain word“snide” means insidious. Yes and animal echidna insidiously and carefully, does not allow intrusion into his life. Australian echidnas prefer to be nocturnal.

They live mainly in forests or areas with dense vegetation, where the animal feels protected under the cover of foliage and plants. The echidna can hide in thickets, tree roots, crevices in rocks, small caves, or in holes that are dug and.

The animal spends the hottest hours of the day in such shelters; with the onset of evening, when the coolness is already well felt, the echidnas begin to behave active life.

However, with the onset of cold weather, the animal’s life seems to slow down and for some time they can go into hibernation, although in general the echidna does not belong to the class of animals sleeping in winter. This behavior of the echidna is associated with the absence of sweat glands, so it does not adapt well to different temperatures.

With a significant change in temperature, the animal becomes lethargic and inactive, sometimes completely inhibiting the process of vital activity. Stock subcutaneous fat provides necessary nutrition to the body for long time, sometimes this can last about 4 months.

The photo shows an echidna in a defensive pose.

Reproduction and lifespan

The breeding period, the so-called mating season, occurs during the Australian winter, which lasts from May to September. At other times, echidnas live alone, but with the onset of winter they gather in small groups, which usually consist of one female and several males (usually there are up to 6 males in one group).

The so-called dating period lasts for about a month, when the animals feed and live together in the same territory. After which the males move on to the stage of courtship of the female. This is usually manifested by the animals sniffing each other and poking their noses at the tail of the only female representative of their group.

When the female is ready to mate, the males surround her and begin a kind of wedding ritual, which consists of circling and digging a trench about 25 centimeters around the female.

The photo shows an echidna with a tiny egg.

When everything is ready, the battles begin for the title of the most worthy, the males push each other out of the trench. The only one who will defeat everyone and mate with the female.

About 3-4 weeks after mating has occurred, the female is ready to lay an egg. Moreover, the echidna always lays only one egg. The echidna's pouch appears only at this time, and then disappears again.

The egg is the size of a pea and is placed in the mother's pouch. How exactly this process occurs is still debated by scientists. After about 8-12 days, the baby is born, but for the next 50 days from the moment of birth, it will still be in the pouch.

Pictured is a baby echidna

The mother echidna then finds a safe place where she leaves her baby and visits it about once a week to feed it. Thus another 5 months pass. Then the time comes when echidna children ready for independent adult life and no longer needs maternal care and care.

The echidna is capable of reproducing no more often than once every two years, or even less often, but its natural life expectancy is approximately 13-17 years. This is considered a fairly high figure. However, there have been cases when echidnas in the zoo lived up to 45 years.

Echidna food

The echidna's diet includes termites, small worms, and sometimes baby fish. To get food, the echidna digs up an anthill or termite mound, rips off the bark of trees where insects hide, moves small stones under which worms can usually be found, or simply combs through the forest floor with its nose from leaves, moss and small branches.

As soon as prey is found, a long tongue is used, to which the insect or. To crush prey, the echidna lacks teeth, but it digestive system it is designed in such a way that it has special keratin teeth that rub against the palate.

This is how the process of “chewing” food occurs. In addition, grains of sand, small pebbles and earth enter the echidna’s body, which also help grind food in the animal’s stomach.

Echidnas and platypuses are the only mammals that lay eggs.

Squad - Monotremes

Family - Echidnovae

Genus/Species - Tachyglossus aculeatus

Basic data:

DIMENSIONS

Body length: 35-50 cm.

Tail length: up to 10 cm.

Spine length: 6 cm.

Weight: 2.5-6 kg, males are a quarter heavier than females.

REPRODUCTION

Puberty: from 1 year.

Mating season: from June.

Development of offspring: hatches from the egg after 10 days, leaves the pouch after 6-8 weeks.

Number of cubs: 1.

LIFESTYLE

Habits: stay alone; animals are active at dawn and dusk.

Food: ants, termites and other terrestrial insects

Lifespan: up to 50 years old.

RELATED SPECIES

The only relative is the echidna (Zaglossus bruijni), which lives in New Guinea.

The Australian echidna feeds on termites and ants. It most often inhabits grassy and wooded areas with sufficiently loose soil that if
danger, a protective recess could be quickly dug.

FOOD

Australian marsupial echidna feeding various types termites and ants. Only sometimes, in order to diversify its diet, it eats other insects and small animals. The echidna is a carnivore, but the size of its prey is limited by the size of its mouth. Its peculiarity is that the upper jaw of the echidna is connected to the lower. So the echidna’s mouth opening is very small and opens exclusively at the end of its long, pointed muzzle. Therefore, the animal catches prey with a long, worm-like tongue with a sticky surface. She can extend it by 18 cm.

The bugs stick to the tongue, and the echidna pulls them into the mouth. The echidna has no teeth, so the animal grinds its food with horny teeth covering the tongue and palate. With the help of its tongue, the echidna also swallows pebbles and soil, which help grind the food in the stomach. The echidna usually goes out to feed early in the morning and at dusk. If the heat is unbearable, the echidna comes out of its hiding place only at night. The echidna finds its prey using its excellent sense of smell. She sniffs the forest floor and piles of leaves, from where she digs out termites and ants. While digging, the echidna turns over stones that are twice as heavy as it is. She rests her paws on the ground and pushes away the stones with her shoulders.

LIFESTYLE

The size of the area the echidna needs to live depends on the amount of food on it. In wet forested areas, where prey is usually plentiful, the area is approximately 50 hectares per animal, and individual areas may overlap. During the day, the Australian echidna rests, hiding under tree roots, stones or in hollows. At night she goes in search of insects. The Australian echidna leaves its shelter only at a certain temperature. In very hot seasons, it comes out of hiding only at night. The echidna does not tolerate heat and excess solar heat very well. If the animal does not escape in time sun rays, then this could lead to her death. IN cold weather The echidna can remain out of shelter throughout the day. This animal has few enemies: the only danger for the echidna is a meeting with a person who hunts it for fat.

When an echidna is frightened by something, it burrows surprisingly quickly into loose soil. If the ground is hard, the echidna curls up into a ball, like . During the cold season, the Australian echidna falls into a short hibernation.

REPRODUCTION

Australian echidnas breed in July and August, when southern hemisphere winter reigns. Only at this time of year do animals stay in pairs. The female, ready for mating, leaves an odorous trail on the ground, along which the male finds her. Having found such a trail, the male sets off along it in search of the female. Often one female is followed by 3-5 males. About two weeks after mating, the female lays 1 egg the size of a hazelnut. It is still unclear how the egg gets into the echidna’s pouch. It has been proven that she cannot do this with the help of her paws, so they think that the echidna, bending over, puts it directly into the pouch.

After 7-10 days, the egg hatches into a 12 mm long baby. He sticks his head into the pouch where the mammary glands open and licks the milk.

DID YOU KNOW THAT...

• In case of danger, the Australian echidna curls up into a ball, just like the hedgehog we know does.
• Tasmanian echidnas, which live in Tasmania, have short spines and they are not so densely spaced, so they do not need highly developed scratching claws.
• Echidnas, like humans, belong to a small group of long-lived mammals that can live more than 50 years. Such a long lifespan is very unusual for such a small animal.
• The platypus and echidna, found in Australia, are the only mammals that lay eggs.
• Female echidnas do not have the classic exits of the mammary glands - nipples. The milk flows through the pores into a hairy sac on the front of the pouch, from where the baby licks it.
• Male echidnas have a special outgrowth on the heels of their hind legs - a horny spur, into which a poisonous gland opens. However, this gland does not perform any function, that is, it does not produce poison.

FEATURES OF THE AUSTRALIAN ECHIDNA

Nose: pointed, hairless, with well-developed nostrils and a small mouth opening at the end.

Spines: grow from thick fur, covering the back and sides of the Australian echidna.

All four paws have 5 strong claws adapted for digging.

The second toe on the hind legs ends in a long curved claw, which serves the echidna for scratching its skin.

Echidna digs the ground in search of termites and ants. She collects insects with her sticky tongue.

- Range of the Australian echidna

LIVING PLACE

The Australian echidna lives in the arid regions of Australia and Tasmania.

PRESERVATION

The Australian echidna has few natural enemies - its only threat is that the indigenous people of Australia consider its fat a delicacy. Echidnas do no harm and do not have much economic importance, so they are not hunted en masse.