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Echidnas
Sometimes known as the spiny anteater, the echidna is an egg-laying mammal of Australia and New Guinea. It has adapted to living in a variety of habitats, from deserts to mountains, as long as there is a ready source of its favorite food of termites. Questions and answers about echidnas can be found here.
315 Questions
Echidnas eat by using their long, sticky tongues to capture termites and ants. This is why they are sometimes called "spiny anteaters". The echidna gained its scientific name of Tachyglossus, which means "fast tongue", because it can flick its tongue in and out up to 100 times per minute.
It is also a very tenacious eater, as it digs determinedly into termites' and ants' nests. It then proceeds to stick its sticky tongue as far as it can into the nests, getting as many ants as it can each time.
How many babies can echidnas have?
Echidna babies are not born: they are hatched, as echidnas are monotremes, i.e. egg-laying mammals. The female echidna lays a single egg in the rudimentary pouch she develops during breeding season.
There is a belief that echidna young are called "puggles". Even certain government wildlife departments are guilty of perpetuating this myth. This misnomer developed and spread by the appearance of a soft toy, called a puggle, which resembled a baby echidna.
Does a spiny anteater have scales?
No. The spiny anteaters more correctly known as an echidna, is a mammal, and mammals do not have scales. Mammals have skin and hair/fur.The echidna has fur and spines. These spines are actually specialised tough, hollow hair follicles attached to muscles so the evhidna can raise them in defence.
What is the climate and requirements of the echidna?
Echidnas are found throughout most of Australia, and are highly adaptable to a wide range of climates and environments. They live anywhere from dry bushland and woodlands, to snowy mountains, hot sandy plains, heath, grasslands, semi-arid environments and deserts. Echidnas can be found wherever there are termites and ants.
The echidna found throughout Australia is the short-beaked echidna. It is also found in the lowlands of southeast New Guinea. The long-beaked echidna is a rarer species, found only in New Guinea. It ranges from low-level coastal regions to tropical rainforests in mountainous areas.
Echidnas like to burrow into termite mounds and eat the termites.
They also break open non-termite ant nests and eat eggs/ adults/ larvae.
Is an echidna the only egg laying marsupial?
The echidna is a monotreme, which is an egg-laying mammal. Most mammals give live birth, but only the echidna and platypus are egg-laying mammals.
Yes he can.But only on angle island or near the master emarald.
Why are long beak echidnas endangered?
No. The short-beaked echidna of Australia is highly adaptable to a variety of conditions, so it is one of the Australian native animals which has been least affected by European settlement and the associated problems of habitat loss (unlike the long-beaked echidna of New Guinea). The echidna is currently listed as "common" throughout Australia and its conservation status is not listed as endangered.
It is a remarkably adaptable creature which can live wherever there are termites or ants.
The echidna is less affected by habitat loss than many other species, as it does not need a specialised environment, just a good supply of ants and termites. There are areas of Australia where echidnas were once common, but have not been sighted in years. The biggest threats are dogs and cars. However, the echidna still enjoys a healthy population in many less urbanised areas.
Natural predators to the echidna are dingoes, and goannas and snakes may prey on young echidnas, sometimes taking them from their burrows.
What is the size of an echidna?
A fully grown short-beaked echidna varies in size from 35 to 53 cm. Males weigh about 6 kilograms, while females have a mass of around 4.5 kilograms.
Long-beaked echidnas are larger. Their body length may be from 60 - 100 cm in length, and they may weigh between 4.2 and 9.1 kg.
Does Knuckles the Echidna have super speed?
He isn't as fast as Sonic, but he can glide and Sonic cant :3
How does an echidna get its food?
Short-beaked echidnas feed on termites, and occasionally ants, while Long-beaked echidnas eat earthworms, beetles and moth larvae. Because of their spines, there are few animals willing to eat adult echidnas. Natural predators of juvenile echidnas are goannas, pythons and dingoes, while the introduced fox has also become a major predator.
What is the Australian echidna's food chain?
Platypuses, especially small ones, can be eaten by a variety of predators including spotted-tailed quoll, dingo, feral cat, goannas, water rats, owls and pythons. The platypus is midway in the food chain. Whilst there are other animals that prey upon this creature the platypus, in turn, is carnivorous and preys on small crustaceans, larvae and fish that live underwater.
Within its niche in creeks and rivers, the platypus is the top predator; below it are the shrimp and small crustaceans upon which it feeds; they, in turn, feed on zooplankton, which feed on phytoplankton.
Does the spiny anteater lay eggs or give birth?
Spiny anteaters, more properly known as echidnas, have eggs in order to ensure the continuity of their own kind. They are monotremes, which means that they are egg-laying mammals, like the platypus.
Echidnas in Australia are insectivorous. Short-beaked echidnas live almost exclusively on termites, although they also eat ants. Echidnas have large claws for breaking open termite mounds (which, in much of Australia, are made from mud). They have long sticky tongues, about 15cm long, with which they catch the termites. Echidnas also look for termites under old, rotting logs, their preferred locale. The long-beaked echidna, which is found only on the island of New Guinea, feeds mainly on worms and insect larvae.
What did the word 'echidna' come from?
The echidna (Tachyglossus Aculeatus) was named after the Greek monster Echidna, who was half snake (reptile) and half woman (mammal). She was known as the "Mother of all Monsters" as most of the monsters in Greek mythology were said to have mothered by Echidna.
The most obvious reptilian characteristic of the echidna is that it lays eggs. The mammalian characteristics of the echidna is that they are warm-blooded, have fur, produce milk and suckle their young.
For more information on Echidna the monster, see the related link.
As for the echidna's scientific name of Tachyglossus - this means "Fast tongue". The echidna lives primarily on termites and ants, collecting them from nests by flicking its tongue in and out very quickly to capture the insects. The echidna's tongue moves at a speed of around 100 times per minute.
Yes: echidnas are quite real. Echidnas are egg-laying mammals that live throughout Australia, from the desert, to bushland, to sub-alpine mountain habitats.
How are Hedgehogs different to echidnas?
One of the major differences between porcupines, hedgehogs and echidnas concerns the quills. A porcupine's quills are extremely sharp and barbed - and very dangerous. They detach easily when they have been embedded into the victim's skin. They are not venomous, but can certainly cause infection.
A hedgehog's quills (compared to a porcupine's) are very dull and are NOT barbed - not dangerous at all.
An echidna's quills are sharp, but unlikely to cause infection - just a lot of pain.
The defence mechanisms of hedgehogs, echidnas and porcupines vary tremendously. Hedgehogs roll up into a ball for protection. Echidnas may roll up, though not into as tight a ball as a hedgehog, or they may dig straight down, horizontally, into the ground so that while they are digging, only their quills are exposed. Porcupines arch their back, which has the effect of making the quills stand straight up. They have strong, armoured tails which they thrash about to hit a potential predator. Once their barbs embed in the skin of their attacker, they expand, forcing the quill deeper into the attacker's flesh.
Other points:
- One species of hedgehogs has been domesticated. Neither porcupines nor echidnas are domesticated.
- Porcupines are larger than echidnas, which are larger than hedgehogs.
- Hedgehogs have around 3000 - 7000 quills which average 2.5cm in length; porcupines have around 30,000 quills which average 5cm in length.
- Hedgehogs are often favoured by gardeners because they eat slugs and other garden pests. Porcupines eat the actual vegetation, including flower buds and leaves. Echdinas feed almost exclusively on termites and ants.
- Hedgehogs hibernate during winter; porcupines and echidnas do not.
- Wild porcupines are found in North and South America, Africa and Asia. Wild hedgehogs are found in Africa, Europe and Asia. Echidnas are found in Australia and on the island of New Guinea.
Echidnas do not have many predators, due to their sharp spines.
The main enemies of the echidna affect them when they are young. Snakes will sometimes enter their burrow and eat the baby echidna. Other animals do not usually attempt to eat this spiky creature, but some echidna predators include very brave foxes and goannas. Goannas will dig into an echidna's burrow and eat the young.
A fascinating museum exhibit in Australia shows a fossilised snake eating a fossilised echidna. It would appear the echidna's spikes caught as it was being swallowed by the snake, and both creatures perished.
Echidnas breathe using lungs, the same as other mammals.
What is the collective name for an ECHIDNA?
It depends on the species.
There are only two species of echidnas: the short-beaked echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus) of Australia, and the long-beaked echidna (Zaglossus bruijni) of New Guinea. There are several sub-speciesof the long-beaked echidna: the Western long-beaked echidna, Sir David's long-beaked echidna and the Eastern long-beaked echidna.
Why are the echidnas important?
Echinoderms are scavengers of decaying matter on the sea floor. They help control the growth of seaweeds in coral reefs, thus allowing corals to flourish. The removal of Echinoderms would result in the overgrowth of seaweeds and the devastation of coral reef habitats, affecting the sea animals that inhabit coral reefs,
No. The echidna has no venom in its spines or anywhere else. Like a platypus, the male echidna has a spur on its hind leg, but unlike the male platypus, the echidna's spur is not connected to a venom gland.
What effect do humans have on echidnas?
Yes. However, the impact of people on echidnas tends to be less than their impact on some other animal species. Echidnas are among the animals least impacted by European settlement of Australia, as they are found in such a wide range of habitats.
