![]() Few other mammals in Australia eat ants and termites, so they have no competition for food in most of their range. ![]() They try to avoid the larger biting ants such as army ants, preferring the soft bodies of larvae, pupae, queen and winged ants.Įchidnas have an extremely specialised diet, which has probably helped to make them so successful. This is probably because termites live in larger colonies, and less of their body mass is made up of non-digestible exo-skeleton. They can remain in this state of torpor for weeks at a time.Įchidnas eat only ants and termites as they forage through ant and termite nests, they also ingest a large amount of nest material and soil, which makes up the bulk of their droppings.Įchidnas prefer to eat termites over ants, especially queens and nymphs. They can drop their body temperature to as low as 4 C (39.2 F), taking a breath only every three minutes or so. In extremely cold regions, such as the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales, echidnas go into a state of dormancy. It has recently been suggested that echidnas regulate their body heat by blowing ‘snot bubbles’! Bubbles of mucus could absorb heat from blood vessels near the surface, and evaporate, helping to cool the echidna.Įchidnas living in Tasmania have much longer body hairs in between their spikes, providing insulation from the cold. They have no sweat glands and cannot pant to get rid of excess body heat, so they remain in shelters during the heat of the day, coming out at night to feed. They can live anywhere from cold mountain peaks to arid desert regions.Įchidnas have no fixed nest site, but will seek shelter in places like hollow logs, piles of brush, crevices and wombat or rabbit warrens. They have no particular habitat requirements, as long as there is a source of food. Curled up, they are about the size of a basketball.Įchidnas are widespread in all Australian states including Tasmania. There is only a very short, vestigial tail.Īdult echidnas weigh from 2-7kg (4-15 lb) and are from 30 to 45cm long (12-18 in). The mouth is simply an elongated tube, with no teeth. The belly is also covered with short, soft hairs. There are regular, soft hairs in between these spikes. These are made of compressed hairs, just like your fingernails. The top of the body is covered with sharp spines. The echidna looks kind of like a cross between an anteater and a porcupine or hedgehog. The short-beaked echidna is found in Australia and southern New Guinea. ![]() Three species of the long-beaked echidna ( Zaglossus) live only in the highlands of Papua New Guinea. There are two genera of echidna in the world. This can vary by several degrees with no harmful effects to the echidna. The active body temperature for an Echidna is only 33 C (91.4 F), compared to 37 C (98.6 F) for humans. Monotremes have a lower body temperature than other mammals. Echidnas do not have a functional venom gland.Īdult monotremes have no teeth, and no whiskers on their faces. In the platypus, this spur is connected to a venom gland. Male monotremes have a spur on the hind foot. Monotremes have no external ears, but just an opening on either side of the back of the head, like lizards and birds. Thick, yellowish milk is secreted directly onto the surface of the skin inside the pouch. The most unusual feature of the monotreme is the fact that they do not give birth to live young but lay a leathery egg into a pouch on the mother’s abdomen!įemales have mammary glands that produce milk to nourish the young, but they have no nipples. HOW ELSE DO MONOTREMES DIFFER FROM OTHER MAMMALS? Like reptiles, these mammals have only a single rear opening (the cloaca) through which all waste products are passed, and which is also the birth canal. The word ‘monotreme’ comes from the Greek: ‘ mono’ meaning ‘one’, and ‘trema’ meaning ‘opening’. Monotremes are an ancient order of mammals which retain several features of their reptile ancestors. Indeed, it has been described as one of the most successful mammals on earth. It will waddle around, quietly going about its business, as this species has done for millions of years. Wait until the cool of the day, and this spiky ball will uncurl, revealing a short-legged animal with a long nose. On the contrary, this is one of the strangest, most improbable creatures in the world! For, like the duck-billed platypus, the echidna is a monotreme, one of only three species of egg-laying mammals in existence.
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