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Echidnas are small, spiky monotremes (egg-laying mammals) native to Australia and New Guinea. They are between 30cm and 45cm long, with a mass of 2kg to 5kg. Echidnas in the south are larger than their northern counterparts.
Insulating an echidna's body is fur which varies in colour from light brown to darker brown, reddish brown and sometimes black. The further north an echidna lives, the lighter the colouring. They can be quite light brown in northern areas of Australia, and black in Tasmania. Again, echidnas in the south have thicker fur than that of their northern counterparts.
More obvious are their lighter-coloured spines which protrude up to 5cm long, and protect them from predators. They do not have spines on their stomachs.
Echidnas also have long snouts with which they sniff out termites, which are then caught on the echidna's 15cm long tongue. They have sharp claws for digging into termite mounds, though they prefer to find their termites under rotting logs.
During breeding season, the female echidna develops a pouch, where she lays and incubates her egg. The pouch is little more than a fold of skin, and even the male can develop a pouch.
Wiki User
∙ 14y ago
Wiki User
∙ 14y agoFor photos of echidnas, see the related link below.
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What does a echidna egg look like?
Echinacea
What does Knuckles the echidna look like?
hes red and he has shovel claws dahh
What does shaymin look like on Pokemon pearl?
shaymin looks like an echidna with flowers on his/her spikes. [i've got it] Shaymin is actually a hedgehog.
Where is the echidna's poison?
Although the male echidna has a spur, like the platypus, there is no evidence that it has any poison.
Why is the echidna's reproduction weird?
The echidna's reproduction is not weird. It just so happens that the echidna, like the platypus, is a monotreme, meaning it is an egg-laying mammal.
How powerful is echidna poison?
The echidna does not have poison. Although it does have spurs on its hind legs (like the platypus) it is not poisonous.
How is the echidna poison used?
The echidna has no poison (or venom) in its spines or anywhere else. Like a platypus, the male echidna has a spur on its hind leg, but this is not believed to hold any venom.
How strong is the echidna poison?
The echidna has no poison (or venom) in its spines or anywhere else. Like a platypus, the male echidna has a spur on its hind leg, but this is not believed to hold any venom.
Does an Echidna have a beak?
An echidna does not have a beak in the sense that a bird has a beak. The two extant species of echidna are the long-beaked echidna of New Guinea and the short-beaked echidna of Australia, but the beak is actually a long snout, like that of an anteater. It is not made of hard material, but is soft, though strong.
What other animals reproduce like the platypus?
The platypus is a monotreme, which is an egg-laying mammal. The only other animal in this group is the echidna. There are two species of echidna: the short-beaked echidna, which is found in Australia, just like the platypus; and the long-beaked echidna, which is only found on the island of New Guinea.
How do you pronounce echidna?
e-kid-na, with the stress on the second syllablePronunciation = Long "e" as in "each", "Chid" like "kid", "na" like "nuh"
How do mammals eggs look like?
The two egg-laying mammals, or monotremes, the platypus and the echidna, lay very small, white eggs. These eggs are around the size of grapes, and have leathery shells. The platypus's egg averages 11 mm in diameter, and they are rounder than the echidna's egg. The echidna's egg ranges between 13 and 15 mm in length.
