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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
Does Knuckles the echidna have kids?
yes. he has a daughter named Lara-Su. he names her after his wife (Julie-Su) and his mother (Lara-Le). Lara-Su is also the future guardian after Knuckles
Yes. 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.
What are some behavioral adaptations of an echidna?
These are only some:
- Female echidnas dig burrows for their young once the young echidna starts to develop its spines, and the mother cannot carry it in her makeshift pouch any longer.
- When threatened, they can dig very quickly into the earth, disappearing horizontally, leaving only their quills exposed while they burrow.
- When threatened, it may also roll into a ball so that only its spines are showing.
- Echidnas are capable of diving underwater in sudden floods. They cannot swim for long periods, but they can survive flash floods, as when they dive, their heart rate drops, allowing them to conserve oxygen.
No. Being a protected native mammal of Australia, the echidna is not available for purchase by the general public.
What is a baby echidna called?
There is no specific term for a baby echidna.
There are some reports that they are called puggles. This is incorrect.
The term "puggle" developed as a name for baby echidnas, as they resembled "Puggles", an American soft-toy character. The company producing the "Puggles" toy considered legal action against the unauthorised use of the term "puggles". Whether or not this action went ahead is undetermined, but it could quite possibly be illegal to use the word for anything other than the soft toy.
Does Shadow the Hedgehog love Tikal the Echidna?
They are not in the same timeline. I don't recall them ever meeting. So my dear Watson I can say with much confidence....no.
How are the spiny anteater and the platypus different from other mammals?
The correct name for the spiny anteater is echidna. The echidna and platypus are different from other mammals because they are the only egg-laying mammals. All other mammals, both placentals and marsupials, give live birth.
How do echidnas feed their young?
Echidnas are mammals, so the young drink mothers' milk. When the young hatches from the egg, it is fed on mother's milk which seeps from milk glands, not teats like other mammals.
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 are the names of the only two egg-laying mammals in existence?
The only two egg-laying mammals in existence are the platypus and the echidna, which are classed as monotremes. They are still classified as mammals because they feed their young on mothers' milk - a characteristic unique to mammals alone.
There are just three known species of egg-laying mammals, or monotremes. They are the platypus and short-beaked echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus) of Australia, and the long-beaked echidna (Zaglosssus bruijni) of Papua New Guinea. The echidna is sometimes called the spiny anteater, and there are several sub-species of the long-beaked echidna: the Western long-beaked echidna, Sir David's long-beaked echidna and the Eastern long-beaked echidna.
What are the Echidna's enemies?
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.
The short-beaked echidna lives almost exclusively on termites, but will also eat ants. The long-beaked echidna feeds on other insects, worms and insect larvae as well.
Echidnas do not live in a tunnel, but they do dig burrows. They are not fast runners.
Are Shadow the hedgehog and Knuckles the echidna friends?
I wouldn't go as far as using the term friends, more like allies.
Yes.
Though its body shape and spines would seem to inhibit its swimming ability, the echidna actually swims quite well, and even uses swimming as a means to regulate its own temperature.
What is the echidna's most important adaptation?
Arguably, the echidna's most important adaptation is its long, sticky tongue. It uses its tongue to catch the termites on which it feeds, and without this ability to lick up hundreds to thousands of termites in a feeding session, it would starve.
While its sharp spines are clearly necessary for its defence, such protection would be pointless if it starved to death. Similiarly, its sharp claws for quickly burrowing are important for survival against predators, but if it could eat no food, it would stand even less chance of survival.
Yes. While many people believe echidnas only have spines, they are actually covered with a very thick layer of coarse hair. The sharp spines grown throughout the coarse hair.
Yes, echidnas are a type of mammal called monotremes, which means a mammal that lays eggs.
This varies according to the species.
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, insect larvae and other invertebrates.
Why do Australians call echidnas porkies?
They don't.
A "porky" is a lie. If someone has told you that Australians call echidnas porkies, they are telling you a porky.
Some people may call them porkies for two reasons - porkie is short for porcupine and, even though echidnas are not related to porcupines, they have sharp spines like porcupines do. Also, the word porcupine rhymes with spine (the sharp quills on an echidna) and Australians are fond of rhyming slang.
