ECHIDNA

ECHIDNAS ARE

• One of only two known monotremes, or egg-laying mammals.
• Missing ear flaps, ears covered up by fur.
• Have no teeth, feeds on its diet of ants and termites with a long sticky tongue.
• Part of two subspecies, the long-beaked echidna and the short-beaked echidna.
• Able to survive in almost any climate in Australia.

Echidnas, or spiny anteaters, are close relatives to the duck-beaked platypus.

Baby echidnas, called 'puggles', are hatched from eggs kept in the mother's pouch.

MORE ABOUT PUGGLES

• Once hatched and developed, the puggle is placed in a burrow. The puggle will stay in that burrow until it is old enough to leave.
• The puggle is born without any spines. The spines start to grow in later.

Defense
Echidnas have three techniques when facing a foe: Run, dig, curl. Running is almost never done, as echidnas have awkward feet and are very slow. Digging is a terrified echidna's best bet, as its digging speed is equivalent to a grown man with a shovel. If digging isn't an option, it will curl itself into a spiky ball, defending itself from harm.

DIETARY NEEDS

The echidna's dietary needs are simple. It feeds on ants and termites, using its long sticky tongue to catch its prey, using a padded mouth to chew, as it has no teeth.

ANCESTRY

• The modern echidna evolved from a giant echidna, which died out 20,000 years ago.
• The echidna and platypus have evolved little over the years, the echidna only shrinking.

FUN FACTS

• Echidnas are solitary animals, only communicating with others during breeding season.
• The echidna egg looks a bit like a quail's egg, having the same mottled appearance.
• The echidna's spines are actually modified hairs.

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