Why is an echidna so special?

Answer 1

The echidna has numerous special features.

• It is an egg-laying mammal of Australia and New Guinea.
• It has a long tongue with sticky saliva, with which it eats termites and ants.
• It has a long snout which makes it easy for the echidna to burrow for ants, termites and worms.
• During breeding season, the female echidna develops a pouch, where she lays and incubates her egg. Although the pouch is little more than a fold of skin, it protects the egg from would-be predators such as goannas.
• The echidna has sharp claws for digging, and this ability to dig effectively is helped by its compact, muscular body shape and strong forelegs. When threatened, they can dig very, very quickly into the earth, disappearing horizontally, leaving only their quills exposed while they burrow.
• The echidna is very adaptable, living in a wide variety of climates and environments, from sub-alpine regions to arid semi-desert - wherever there are termites and ants.
• Echidnas burrow as a protective defence, leaving only the spines exposed to the potential predator.

Answer 2

The echidna is an egg-laying mammal of Australia and New Guinea. Adaptations of the echidna include:

• A long tongue with sticky saliva, with which it eats termites and ants.
• A long snout which makes it easy for the echidna to burrow for ants, termites and worms.
• During breeding season, the female echidna develops a pouch, where she lays and incubates her egg. Although the pouch is little more than a fold of skin, it protects the egg from would-be predators such as goannas.
• The echidna has sharp claws for digging, and this ability to dig effectively is helped by its compact, muscular body shape and strong forelegs. When threatened, they can dig very, very quickly into the earth, disappearing horizontally, leaving only their quills exposed while they burrow.
• The echidna is very adaptable, living in a wide variety of climates and environments, from sub-alpine regions to arid semi-desert - wherever there are termites and ants.
• Echidnas burrow as a protective defence, leaving only the spines exposed to the potential predator.
• Echidnas are able to tolerate high levels of carbon dioxide, a necessity for an animal which burrows for protection (and sometimes for food). Because of this, they can also tolerate lower oxygen levels, and this is useful when bushfires occur.
• When flash floods occur, echidnas can dive underwater, and as they do so, their heart rate drops, which saves oxygen needed by the brain and the heart.

Answer 3

Echidnas have the following physical characteristics: * Echidnas are monotremes, that is, egg-laying mammals * 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 * Male echidnas have a spur on their hind leg, much the same as a platypus, but unlike the platypus's spur, the echidna's is not poisonous * It has a long snout which makes it easy for the echidna to burrow for ants, termites and worms. * The echidna has sharp claws for digging, and this ability to dig effectively is helped by its compact, muscular body shape and strong forelegs * It has a long tongue with sticky saliva for eating the ants

Answer 4

Echidnas 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.

Answer 5

Echidnas are unique because they are egg-laying mammals (monotremes). Strictly speaking, they are not completely unique, as the platypus is also an egg-laying mammal.