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Interesting facts about echidnas: characteristics, diet, habitat, reproduction and predators

long-beaked and short beaked echidnas They are animals with a modified snout to form an elongated beak-like organ. They have no teeth, a long protruding tongue, and in addition to normal hair, they have a series of special hairs on their sides and back that are modified to form sharp spines. The long-beaked 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-beaked species, which is only 30 to 45 centimeters (11 to 18 inches) in length and 2.5 to 8 kilograms (6 to 18 pounds) in weight. In the short-beaked echidna, the males are larger than the females. In both species, only the male retains the ankle spur of each hind leg.

Distribution

The status of the long-snouted echidna is in doubt, since the area of ​​its distribution is poorly studied. The short-beaked echidna ranges across mainland Australia and Tasmania, where its status can be considered common. In Papua New Guinea it is still considered common in low-lying areas, although both species are known to be preyed on by humans for food.

physical characteristics

Unlike the platypus, the echidna’s ears and eyes are not housed in the same groove; the ear opening (with little external ear visible) is well behind the eye. The snout and protractile tongue are used for feeding.

What do echidnas eat?

The short-beaked echidna feeds mainly on termites and ants, although it will also take insect larvae.


It obtains ants and termites by digging up the mounds, galleries and nests of these insects with the large claws on its front feet. 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 access these insects.

The generic term tachyglossus it actually means “quick tongue”. The long-beaked echidna is primarily a worm eater. It uses spines lodged in a groove on its tongue to attract worms into its mouth. In both species, mucous secretions make the tongue sticky, and in the absence of teeth, food is ground between spines on the base of the tongue and on 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 sheltered under rocks or vegetation in extreme heat or cold. cold. .

They also seem 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 burrowing ability is legendary, with individuals able to burrow vertically into the ground only to disappear in less than a minute.

echidna body temperature

Echidnas are endothermic and, like platypuses, can regulate their body temperatures well above ambient temperatures by raising their metabolism and using insulating fur and fat in the case of echidnas.

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

The short-beaked echidna is now known to sometimes hibernate for two to three weeks during the winter in the Australian Alps, when individuals’ body temperatures can drop by 4 to 9 °C (39 to 48 °F).

Breeding season

  • Little is known about the reproductive cycle of the long-snouted echidna. In short-beaked species, a pouch develops during the breeding season, in which one egg is ugly.

  • After about 10 days of incubation, the young hatch and are fed with the nursed milk from the milk patches in the pouch, and stimulation of the young stimulates milk flow.

  • Nursing lasts up to six months, but once the young begin to develop spines (about nine weeks after hatching), they are left in a burrow where the mother returns to feed them.

  • 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 is believed to be about three weeks.

  • Like female platypuses, 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 one marked individual in the wild was found to be at least 16 years old.

An individual long-beaked echidna survived for 31 to 36 years at 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 have been known to prey on echidnas, despite echidnas’ ability to burrow and their arsenal of spines. Foxes, feral cats and goannas take their young out of their burrows during the lactation period, but perhaps the biggest factor in mortality is the automobile.

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

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