A strange beast lives in Australia - it looks like a porcupine, eats like an anteater, lays eggs like a bird, and bears babies in a leathery bag like a kangaroo. Such is the echidna, whose name comes from the ancient Greek ἔχιδνα "snake".

Description of the echidna

There are 3 genera in the echidna family, one of which (Megalibgwilia) is considered extinct. There is also the genus Zaglossus, where proechidnas are found, as well as the genus Tachyglossus (Echidna), consisting of a single species - the Australian echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus). The last one was opened to the world by the British zoologist George Shaw, who described this egg-laying mammal in 1792.

Appearance

The echidna has modest parameters - with a weight of 2.5–5 kg, it grows to about 30–45 cm. Only the Tasmanian subspecies is larger, whose representatives outgrow half a meter. A small head smoothly passes into the body, dotted with hard 5–6 cm needles, consisting of keratin. The needles are hollow and colored yellow (often complemented by black at the tips). The spines are combined with coarse brown or black hair.

Animals have poor eyesight, but excellent sense of smell and hearing: their ears pick up low-frequency vibrations in the soil emitted by ants and termites. The echidna is smarter than its close relative the platypus, as its brain is more developed and dotted with a large number of convolutions. The echidna has a very funny muzzle with a duck beak (7.5 cm), round dark eyes and ears invisible under the coat. The total length of the tongue is 25 cm, and when capturing prey, it flies out 18 cm.

Important! The short tail is shaped like a ledge. Under the tail is a cloaca - a single opening through which the sexual secretions, urine and feces of the animal exit.

Echidna does not like to put his life on display, hiding it from strangers. It is known that animals are uncommunicative and absolutely not territorial: they live alone, and when they accidentally collide, they simply disperse in different directions. The animals are not engaged in digging holes and arranging personal nests, but they settle down for the night / rest, where necessary:

• in placers of stones;
• under the roots
• in dense thickets;
• in the hollows of fallen trees;
• rock crevices;
• burrows left by rabbits and.

This is interesting! In the summer heat, the echidna sits in shelters, as its body is poorly adapted to the heat due to the lack of sweat glands and extremely low body temperature (only 32 ° C). Vigor in echidna comes closer to twilight, when there is a coolness around.

But the animal becomes lethargic not only in the heat, but also with the advent of cold days. Light frost and snow make them hibernate for 4 months. With a shortage of food, the echidna can starve for more than a month, consuming its reserves of subcutaneous fat.

Types of echidnas

If we talk about the Australian echidna, five of its subspecies should be named, differing in habitat areas:

• Tachyglossus aculeatus setosus - Tasmania and several Bass Strait Islands;
• Tachyglossus aculeatus multiaculeatus - Kangaroo Island;
• Tachyglossus aculeatus aculeatus - New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria;
• Tachyglossus aculeatus acanthion - Western Australia and Northern Territory;
• Tachyglossus aculeatus lawesii - New Guinea and part of the forests of northeast Queensland.

This is interesting! The Australian echidna adorns several sets of Australian postage stamps. In addition, the animal is featured on the 5 Australian cent coin.

Lifespan

Under natural conditions, this egg-laying mammal lives no more than 13–17 years, which is regarded as a fairly high figure. However, in captivity, the lifespan of an echidna is almost tripled - there were precedents when animals in zoos lived up to 45 years.

Range, habitats

Today, the range of the Echidna family covers the entire Australian continent, islands in the Bass Strait and New Guinea. Any area where there is an abundant food base is suitable for housing echidna, be it a tropical forest or bush (less often - desert).

Echidna feels protected under the cover of plants and leaves, so it prefers places with dense vegetation. The animal can be found on agricultural land, in urban areas and even in mountainous areas where snow sometimes falls.

Echidna diet

In search of food, the animal does not get tired of stirring up anthills and termite mounds, peeling off the bark from collapsed trunks, exploring the forest floor and turning over stones. The standard echidna menu includes:

• ants;
• termites;
• insects;
• small shellfish;
• worms.

A tiny hole at the tip of the beak opens only 5 mm, but the beak itself performs a very important function - it picks up weak electric field signals coming from insects.

The echidna's tongue is also remarkable, having a speed of up to 100 movements per minute and covered with a sticky substance, to which ants and termites stick. For a sharp ejection outward, the circular muscles are responsible (by contracting, they change the shape of the tongue and direct it forward) and a pair of muscles located under the root of the tongue and the lower jaw. Rapid blood flow makes the tongue stiffer. Retraction is assigned to 2 longitudinal muscles.

The role of missing teeth is performed by keratin denticles, rubbing the prey against the pectinate palate. The process continues in the stomach, where sand and pebbles grind the food, which the echidna swallows in advance.

natural enemies

Echidna swims well, but does not run very briskly, and is saved from danger by a deaf defense. If the ground is soft, the animal digs deep, curling up into a ball and aiming at the enemy with ruffled spines.

It is almost impossible to get the echidna out of the pit - resisting, it spreads the needles and rests with its paws. The resistance is significantly weakened in open areas and hard ground: experienced predators try to open the ball, aiming towards the ajar belly.

In the list of natural enemies of echidna are:

• dogs ;
• foxes;
• monitor lizards;
• feral cats and dogs.

People do not hunt echidna, as it has tasteless meat and completely useless fur for furriers.

Reproduction and offspring

The mating season (depending on the range) occurs in spring, summer or early autumn. At this time, a tart musky aroma emanates from the animals, according to which males find females. The right to choose remains with the female. Within 4 weeks, she becomes the center of a male harem, consisting of 7-10 suitors, relentlessly following her, having a rest and having dinner together.

This is interesting! The female, ready for intercourse, lies down on the ground, and the applicants circle around her and dig the earth. Later little time an annular moat (18–25 cm deep) is formed around the bride.

Males push like wrestlers on a tatami, trying to force competitors out of the earthen trench.. The fight ends when there is only one winner inside. Mating takes place on its side and takes about an hour.

Gestation lasts 21–28 days. The mother-to-be constructs a burrow, usually by digging it under an old anthill/termite mound or under a pile of garden foliage near human habitation.

The echidna lays a single egg (13–17 mm in diameter and weighing 1.5 g). After 10 days, a puggle (cub) hatches from there with a height of 15 mm and a weight of 0.4–0.5 g. The eyes of the newborn are covered with skin, the hind limbs are almost not developed, but the front ones are equipped with fingers.

It is the fingers that help the puggle migrate from the back of the mother's pouch to the front, where it searches for the milky field. Echidna's milk is pink because of the high concentration of iron.

Newborns grow up quickly, in a couple of months increasing their weight to 0.4 kg, that is, 800-1000 times. After 50-55 days, covered with thorns, they begin to crawl out of the bag, but the mother does not leave her child without care until he is six months old.

At this time, the cub sits in a shelter and eats food brought by the mother. Milk feeding lasts about 200 days, and already at 6–8 months the grown echidna leaves the hole for independent life. Fertility occurs at 2-3 years of age. Echidna breeds infrequently - once every 2 years, and according to some sources - once every 3-7 years.

The echidna animal rarely reaches a size of more than 45-50 cm. Scientists have not been able to fully figure out the origin of this beast. The Australian echidna lives in the west and east of the continent. There is a subspecies of this beast that lives on the island of Tasmania. The animal's favorite habitat is dry bush (thickets of various shrubs) on stony or loose soils.

Animal echidna rarely reaches a size of more than 45-50 cm

The animal belongs to the group of mammals that lay eggs. Echidna is a marsupial, like many representatives of the Australian fauna. She is featured on many stamps issued by Australia., as well as on the Australian 5 cent coin.

This small animal in nature has only one related species, which is called the prochidna. This animal is larger than the echidna - both in weight and in size. This species lives on the islands of New Guinea.

Echidna is a marsupial, like many representatives of the Australian fauna

Appearance

The Australian echidna has a small body, which is covered on the side and top with needles up to 5-6 cm long. These protective devices are painted in brown or white shades. Coarse brown hair grows between the needles of the animal. The animal is land-based, but can swim. At the same time, the Australian echidna can overcome a wide body of water.

Echidnas look funny because of slightly bulging eyes and a thin muzzle, which is about 7.5 cm long. It has an almost circular cross section.

At the very end of this long "nose" is a narrow, small mouth (it opens 4-5 mm), inside which is a long flexible tongue. It is very sticky and allows the beast to prey on various worms and insects.

The length of the tongue reaches 22-25 cm, and the echidna can throw it out of the mouth by 180 mm. The animal is able to move its tongue at a high speed - 90-100 movements per minute.

How does an echidna live (video)

Around the ears, the echidna has a lot of thick and long hair. The auricles themselves are practically invisible. The tail of the animal is small. It looks like a small ledge at the back and is covered with needles.

The weight of the animal can be from 2 to 5 kg, and the Tasmanian species is larger than its Australian counterpart.

polar animal fox

If there is no way to hide, then the Australian echidna curls up into a ball, like an ordinary hedgehog. The animal has excellent hearing, which compensates for his poor eyesight. The Australian echidna can pick up weak electric fields that appear during the movements of insects and worms. Only the platypus and echidna have such an electric locator. Since the mammal of this species belongs to monotremes, all body waste comes out of the animal through the cloaca.

animal lifestyle

This animal practically does not burrow. During the day, an unusual representative of the Australian fauna likes to hide in the hollows of various trees or sleep under their roots in the voids. At night, the animal goes hunting. This animal feeds on the following invertebrates:

1. Willingly eats termites, tearing termite mounds with its claws.
2. The animal's diet includes different types ants.
3. If there are no above insects, then he can eat earthworms.

When the animal feels the prey, it throws out a long, very sticky tongue from its narrow muzzle. The victim sticks to it, and then is pulled into the echidna's mouth opening. Each animal has its own hunting territory.

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The animal has a large layer of subcutaneous fat, which helps the echidna endure the cold season. During such periods, the animal hibernates. Echidnas are able to dream, but when the temperature drops environment below 20°C or above 25°C, the sleep phase decreases or disappears altogether.

Since the animal, when curled up in danger, cannot completely close with its needles, predators such as foxes and various types of wild dogs have learned to use this disadvantage of echidna during hunting. This greatly reduced the number of the Australian mammal. The echidna cannot run away from such an enemy, therefore it relies only on its needles.

Reproduction in nature

Echidna, like the platypus, belongs to rare species oviparous mammals. The mating season begins in winter, before that the animals live almost alone. Reproduction of echidna occurs with the help of eggs. The males begin the mating dance by circling around the female and throwing out the ground with their claws. Therefore, a trench is formed around the female echidna, the depth of which can reach 20-25 cm. The males begin to push each other out of the resulting hole. The female goes to the one who stays inside.

21-30 days after copulation, the female lays a soft-shelled egg, which she carefully places in the abdominal pouch. The size of this egg is comparable to the size of a pea. How the female attaches it to her bag, scientists have not yet been able to figure out.

She incubates the egg for about 10 days. After the birth of the cub, the mother feeds him with milk. It stands out from special pores that are located on the milk field. There are no nipples in this species of animals. The baby echidna licks off the nutrient mixture. He lives in his mother's pouch for 1.5-2 months. After that, his needles begin to form and grow, so he leaves the bag. The mother digs a mink for her offspring, where he lives until the age of 7 months. Every 5 days, the female returns to the cub to feed him with milk. After that, the young animal leaves the mink and begins to lead an independent lifestyle.

Varieties and habitat of echidna, appearance And physiological features, description, nutrition, reproduction, tips for keeping at home.

The content of the article:

Echidna refers to oviparous mammals from the detachment of one-passers. This is an absolutely unique creature, which, together with the platypus, zoologists have identified as an independent zoological order, called Monotremata - Bird Beasts. This name well explains the amazing features of the anatomical structure and physiology of these two animals, which lay eggs, like birds, but feed their newborns with milk, like mammals.

Varieties and habitat of echidna

For the first time, European science learned about the existence of echidna from the report of a member of the Royal Zoological Society in London, George Shaw, read in 1792. But Shaw, who compiled the first description of this animal, was initially mistaken in classifying it as an anteater. In the future, having learned a lot of new and unusual things about this wonderful creature, zoologists corrected the mistake of the discoverer.

Currently, the Echidna family is divided into three genera:

• real echidnas (Tachyglossus);
• prochidna (Zaglossus);
• now extinct genus (Megalibgwilia).

The only representative of true echidnas (Tachyglossus) currently existing in nature is the Australian echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus), which has five subspecies:

• Tachyglossus aculeatus multiaculeatus, found on Kangaroo Island;
• Tachyglossus aculeatus setosus, Tasmanian echidna, habitat - the island of Tasmania and the Furno group of islands of the Bass Strait;
• Tachyglossus aculeatus acanthion, distributed in the Northern Territory of Australia and Western Australia;
• Tachyglossus aculeatus, inhabits the Australian states of Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland;
• Tachyglossus aculeatus lawesii is found in the islands of New Guinea and in the rainforests of northeastern Queensland, Australia.

Appearance and physiological features of the echidna

Echidna combines external signs immediately, at least two mammals - a porcupine and an anteater, which makes her appearance very extraordinary and easily recognizable.

The standard length of the Australian echidna is 30-45 centimeters with a weight of 2.5 to 5 kg. The Tasmanian subspecies of this mammal is noticeably larger - up to 53 centimeters.

The body of the animal has a somewhat flattened shape, with a small head, short thick strong legs and a small curly tail.

The muzzle of the bird animal is conically elongated and gradually turns into a kind of cylindrical "beak" up to 75 centimeters long. The shape of the "beak" can be either straight or somewhat curved (depending on the subspecies).

The "beak" is the most important organ, designed both to detect prey and to absorb it. In addition to a very sensitive nose and mouth, the "beak" contains mechanoreceptors and electroreceptors - special cells of the body that can detect the slightest fluctuations in the electric field caused by even the slightest movement of insects. There are no more electroreceptor cells in any of the known modern science mammals (with the exception of the platypus).

The structural features of the mouth-beak are such that the echidna cannot fully, like other animals, open its mouth to swallow prey. Its mouth opening does not exceed 5 mm. Therefore, she is only able, like an anteater, to “shoot” her long, thin and sticky tongue in the direction of food, drawing into her mouth everything that has stuck to it and is able to pass in size into such a small hole. The beak-mouth of the "spiny anteater", as this bird animal is sometimes called, is completely toothless. Instead of teeth for grinding solid food, small sharp horn needles are used, dotting the root of the tongue and the palate of the mouth.

The auricles of the echidna are under the thick hair of the head and are almost invisible visually even on the naked body of the cub. At the same time, the hearing of the bird beast is magnificent. Especially in the low frequency range emitted by the underground movement of insects.

The eyes of a mammal are small, having, in addition to the eyelids, nictitating membranes. Despite the small size of the eyes, she has excellent vision (until recently it was considered the opposite), which, combined with sharp hearing and an excellent sense of smell, helps her to detect danger in a timely manner and in most cases avoid direct collision with predators.

Leading an uncommunicative way of life, the echidna almost does not make voice sounds. Only in moments of extreme excitement of a mammal can you hear a soft grunt.

The body of the animal is covered with brown-brown hair, the sides and back are protected by long and sharp quills, like those of a porcupine. The length of the needles reaches 5-6 centimeters.

Powerful strong five-fingered paws (three-toed ones are found in the prochidna) are armed with strong wide claws and are well adapted for digging the earth, moving large stones and destroying termite mounds.

Adult males have sharp and hollow horny spurs on the heels of the hind limbs. Zoologists who discovered echidnas mistook these spurs for special poisonous spikes (perhaps this is where too much poisonous name animal) designed to protect against attacking predators. Modern research has shown that these spurs do not contain poison and are used by the bird animal exclusively for combing out its prickly skin.

On the belly of the female, on the eve of the mating season, a fold of skin (brood pouch) is formed in which she bears the egg laid by her, and then the hatched cub, feeding him with milk, like everyone else. marsupials animals of Australia.

The uniqueness of the anatomy of a mammal also lies in the presence of the so-called cloaca, into which both the intestinal and genitourinary tracts are simultaneously excreted. For this reason, the echidna was assigned to the zoological order Monotremes. The penis of the male is also unique, large, having three branched heads at once - probably to ensure a more reliable result when mating during the mating season.

Lifestyle and behavior of echidna in nature

The habits and lifestyle of the Australian echidna are not homogeneous and depend not only on the individual nuances of the behavior of each of the subspecies of the animal, but also on the climate, natural landscape and the specifics of a particular habitat.

The "spiny anteater" can be found in the most diverse areas of the Australian mainland and adjacent islands - in hot deserts and in dry bush, in warm, humid equatorial forests and in the shrubby undergrowth of the foothills. The echidna is equally at home near water bodies, on farmlands, and even in urban suburbs. If only there was enough food, and there were fewer predatory animals.

In the foothills of the island of Tasmania and the Australian Alps, where the temperature drops significantly below zero for several months a year, and the ground is covered with a blanket of snow for a long time, the beast hibernates, having previously dug a deep hole-lair. The presence of a considerable amount of subcutaneous fat accumulated over the summer allows you to easily survive this cold period of starvation.

In snowless and warm regions, this prickly beast is awake all year round.

In areas with a temperate continental climate, the echidna leads an active lifestyle, regardless of the time of day. But in the hot semi-deserts, it goes hunting only at night, when the heat subsides. The body of this creature does not tolerate increased heat indicators very well due to the complete anatomical absence of sweat glands and low own body temperature (30–32 ° C).
"Prickly anteater" is a solitary animal, capable of communicating with its own kind only during the mating period. In everyday life, although these animals adhere to a certain habitat, they do not wage internecine wars among themselves, calmly allowing neighbors to sometimes violate the boundaries of marked areas.

Due to the peculiarities of the anatomy of the body and large curved claws, the mammal moves somewhat awkwardly and relatively slowly. And although this bird animal cannot be attributed to waterfowl or water-loving animals, the animal swims quite decently. If necessary, he can easily swim across a wide river.

Despite the fact that the Australian echidna has a vast habitat on the Australian continent, many of its habits have not yet been fully studied - this animal leads a too secretive lifestyle.

Echidna food

The structural features of the oral cavity, in general, determined the diet of the echidna. Since the size of potential prey is limited by the size of the mouth opening, small insects form the basis of nutrition. First of all, these are termites and ants, which the prickly beast gets to by digging up anthills and destroying termite mounds. In addition, the "spiny anteater" feeds on slugs, snails, worms and insect larvae.

An excellent sense of smell, as well as electroreceptors of the “beak”, allow you to find prey deep underground, under stones and tree stumps. The strong clawed paws put into action and the agile all-penetrating tongue of the animal successfully complete the job. When hunting for prey, the tongue of the bird animal is able to “shoot out” at the target with a machine gun firing frequency of about 100 times per minute, penetrating to a depth of up to 18 centimeters.

In exceptional cases, the echidna can do without food for a month, due to its own reserves of subcutaneous fat.

Echidna breeding

The mating season for this wonderful beast begins in May and ends in September. To attract a partner, or rather, partners (several males can follow one female at once, forming competition), the female emits a sharp musky smell and leaves odorous messages to the “grooms” with the help of a cloaca.

Male courtship of the "bride" can last for several weeks, eventually ending with the mating of the winning male with the female, which occurs in the supine position. In time, the mating lasts about an hour, after which the couple scatters forever.

The duration of pregnancy is from 21 to 28 days. It ends with the laying by the female of one or two very small eggs (weight about 1.5 grams), beige-cream in color, with a leathery shell.

Having barely laid eggs somewhere in a secluded, dry and warm place - a brood hole, the echidna immediately moves them to her bag. How she does this, in fact, without having a normal mouth size and perfect paws, zoologists cannot yet convincingly say. After the eggs are placed in the bag, the female carefully bears them for another 10 days until the offspring appears.

Life and nursing of echidna cubs

The hatched cub, weighing only about 0.5 grams, independently moves to the front of the bag to the area of ​​​​skin called the milky field (in this zone there are about 150 pores of the mammary glands), where it begins to feed on pink (due to excess iron content) echidna milk . In the future, he remains in the mother's pouch for almost two months, quickly gaining weight. After two months, the "baby" already weighs 400-450 grams. By this time, the baby develops its own spines, and the mother releases it from the bag into a previously prepared shelter hole.

Over the next four months, the grown echidna is in this shelter, and the mother comes to feed her no more than once every 5-10 days. The independent life of a newly minted young representative begins at the age of eight months, and puberty occurs at 2-3 years.

Mating of the "spiny anteater" occurs quite rarely, according to available observations - no more than once every 3-7 years. Life expectancy in nature is 15–16 years.

Natural enemies of echidna and ways of defense

On the Australian continent and in Tasmania, the main enemies of echidnas are: dingoes, marsupial Tasmanian devils, monitor lizards, foxes and feral dogs and cats.

A good sense of smell, sharp eyesight and excellent hearing help this prickly and rather harmless creature to avoid danger. Having found the enemy, the echidna always tries to leave unnoticed. If this fails, then it is taken at the same time to dig a hole with all four paws, instantly plunging deep into the ground and leaving a back covered with needles for the enemy to attack. This is her favorite defense technique.

If for some reason it is not possible to dig a hole, the beast, like a hedgehog, curls up into a prickly ball. True, this method of salvation is not so perfect. Experienced Australian predators have long learned to overcome echidnas curled up in a ball, rolling them into the water or rolling them on the ground for a long time and still contriving to grab the belly that is not protected by needles (when the muscle of the animal responsible for twisting into a ball gets tired and the prickly ball opens slightly).

Often, a spiny mammal becomes a victim of aboriginal hunters who hunt it solely for the sake of fat, which is considered a kind of delicacy by local tribes.

It may seem that such an unusual and exotic beast is ill-suited for the role. pet. Actually it is not. There are many examples of successful home maintenance of this thorn bearer.

Of course, keeping such a creature in a limited area of ​​\u200b\u200ba city apartment or freely walking around the house is not worth it. Furniture and the interior of the premises can easily suffer from this - the habit of turning over stones and digging up anthills in search of food from this savage is ineradicable.

Therefore, the optimal conditions for keeping an echidna are a spacious aviary house in front of the house or in the household yard, which reliably protects the beast from cold, heat and too annoying visitors. Do not forget - the "prickly anteater" prefers loneliness. Which, however, does not exclude his walks around the yard. The animal is distinguished by a complaisant and peaceful character, gets along well with households and other pets. Never behaves aggressively. The only thing that can suffer from his claws is your favorite flower garden or garden, which he will definitely check for something tasty.

As for the diet. At home, the bird animal is quite capable of doing without its beloved ants and termites. Echidna with pleasure eats necessarily crushed hard-boiled eggs, fruits, bread, and also chopped meat. Especially likes milk and raw chicken eggs. Do not forget about the container with drinking water.

Efforts on the part of the owner to care for the pet's prickly skin are not required. The animal is able to do all the necessary manipulations on its own.

In captivity, this animal practically does not breed. Only five zoos in the world managed to get echidna offspring, but none of the born pets survived to adulthood.

More about echidna, see this video:

Mammal, bird or reptile? If you mix their signs and shake it up properly, you get the symbol of Australia. It seems that such an amazing creature cannot survive in real conditions. But the echidna does it perfectly!

Eggs: almost like a bird

The echidna is covered with hair, which means it is a mammal. And all mammals are viviparous - at least scientists were sure of this until 1884, when the Scottish naturalist William Caldwell personally took the egg out of her bag! To do this, he spent many weeks on the banks of the Burnett River, forcing the natives to catch strange animals.

Most likely, fellow scientists would not believe Caldwell, deciding that he overheated in the hot Australian sun. But at the same time as the Scot, evidence that echidnas are absolutely incredible animals was discovered by the curator of the Museum of South Australia, William Haake. While examining the corpse of the echidna, he found an egg inside it. And these were not the remains of an eaten bird or lizard, but an unborn viper.

Echidna eggs are more like reptile eggs

Bag: almost like a kangaroo

The echidna mammal not only lays eggs like a bird or reptile, but also carries its young in a pouch, just like a kangaroo. The bag appears before the egg is laid, and when the baby grows up, it smoothes out and disappears. While the rest of the Australian warmbloods chose what was more profitable - an egg or a bag, the echidna took both.

The cub lives in a bag for a month and a half, until its needles begin to prick. Then the mother digs a hole or builds a nest, transplants the baby there, feeds her for the last time and goes about her business. He comes back in five days, feeds him and leaves again for almost a week. The real mother is echidna. Six months later, she completely stops visiting the cub, and the young animal enters an independent life.

In relation to body size, echidnas have an incredibly developed most "intelligent" part of the brain - the neocortex.

Evolution special way Echidnas and platypuses are the only living representatives of the order of monotremes, or oviparous. This is a specific Australian side branch of evolution. The division into two groups occurred only 25 million years ago. And although the ancestors of the echidna came to land, this beast still swims and dives perfectly, just like the platypus remaining in the water. And just like him, in the "beak" of the echidna there are electroreceptors for spearfishing: they capture the slightest electric fields that are created when the victim's muscles contract. Monotremes are primitive beasts with many reptilian features. Their intestines and bladder open into a special cavity - a cloaca, like a lizard or a crocodile. Monotremes also digest food in the intestines - the stomach serves exclusively for its temporary storage. Oviparous do not have vocal cords, and teeth are destroyed in early childhood.

Australian echidnas live not only in Australia, but also in the south of New Guinea

Milk: almost like a cat

The female echidna produces milk, but does not allow her cub to suck. The animal simply does not have nipples: milk is secreted directly through the skin of the two milk zones in the bag, and the baby licks it off the fur. Echidna tries to keep the cub from starving, and during lactation intensively searches for food - she makes sorties for it. And although the baby increases his weight 60 times in 60 days, he often cannot cope with mommy's meals, and excess milk pours directly into the bag.

Echidna's milk is very nutritious, and any bacteria would multiply with great pleasure in it. Pathogenic microbes are deadly for small echidnas, which are born with an underdeveloped immune system. To prevent trouble, the mother echidna's body has learned to produce special antimicrobial proteins. Experiments by Australian scientists show that they inhibit the growth of even such tenacious bacteria as Staphylococcus aureus. The milk of other mammals also contains protective proteins, but echidnas have a larger set of them and they are much more “vigorous”.

Echidnas have serious enemies - dogs and cars

Strength: almost like a bear

A small echidna is an incredibly strong animal for its size. Her funny paws break anthills like shortbread. And thanks to thick claws, the beast easily destroys termite mounds in order to feast on delicious insects.

And with the help of powerful front paws, the echidna digs shelters superbly. If you put a man with a shovel next to him, the Australian miracle beast will easily overtake him. The burrow is the echidna's favorite way to hide from enemies: dingoes, cats, and foxes. The animal burrows into the ground and curls up so that only sharp thorns stick out. It is almost impossible to get an echidna from such a "dugout".

Longevity: almost like a human

In nature, there is a general rule: the smaller the animal, the shorter its life path. But although the largest echidnas weigh a maximum of 6 kg, in captivity these creatures live up to half a century. Scientists suggest that the secret to the incredible longevity of echidnas is their slow metabolism, which animals inherited from their direct reptilian ancestors.

The body temperature of echidnas does not rise above 32 ° C, this is an absolute record among all mammals. But animals also tolerate 28 ° C without any problems - not like people who, when their body temperature changes by a couple of degrees, can only lie in bed and moan. In the cold months, echidnas completely “cool down” to 4 ° C and take a breath once every three minutes. Running and looking for food in this state will not work, so echidnas hibernate.

World's largest fleas found in echidna fur

Sex: like no other

Echidna is a self-sufficient loner and meets another echidna only to make a new echidna. But even here the Australian animals have chosen a special path. The penis of the male is seven centimeters. Twice as big as a gorilla! It is covered with spikes to stimulate the release of the egg and has four heads. True, when mating, the male uses only two, and the remaining ones are pressed, because the female’s vagina is “only” double.

In anticipation of copulation, males line up and follow the female crowd, and she chooses someone to her taste. Then someone else, then another. Males do not leave attempts to mate, even if the chosen one has hibernated: often the echidna wakes up already pregnant. To tame competitors, males have special spurs on their hind legs. For the sake of sex, cold echidnas during the mating season "fire up" by several degrees - this "chip" remained with them from reptiles. Scientists have even hypothesized that warm-bloodedness is the love fever of our reptilian ancestors, which has remained with us forever.

Echidna quills are modified hair

Echidna is an unusual animal even for Australia. A huge number of other living beings choose a niche for themselves and adapt to it. Echidna went the other way: she decided to take everything at once, that is, to adapt to any conditions. And she succeeded: this is the only native Australian animal that managed to occupy the entire continent. Sometimes lack of modesty is a virtue.

Photo: ALAMY /LEGION-MEDIA(X4), MINDEN PICTURES / FOTODOM.RU, ISTOCK, IUCN (INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE). 2017. THE IUCN RED LIST OF THREATENED SPECIES. VERSION 3.1, DIOMEDIA, VMENKOV (CCBY SA 3.0)

echidnas (Tachyglossidae) - a family of mammals of the monotreme order. Also known by their Australian name "spiny anteater", they are the only extant animals from the monotreme series, with the exception of the platypus. There are currently three types malicious united in two genera of the echidna family.
Echidna covered with coarse wool and needles. The maximum length of their body is approximately 30 centimeters. Their jaws are elongated into a narrow "beak". Echidna limbs are short and very strong, with large claws, making these animals powerful diggers. Echidnas do not have teeth, they have a very small mouth, so they feed by licking termites, ants and other small invertebrates with their long sticky tongue, which are crushed by pressing their tongue against the sky in their mouths.
E shy most of the year (except for the mating season, which occurs in the middle of winter, usually in July and August) live alone. They are territorial animals, but neighboring territories may overlap somewhat. Echidna all the time slowly walks its territory in search of prey, without having a permanent lair. Despite its thick and clumsy body, it swims well, and is able to cross fairly large bodies of water.
These animals have fairly sharp eyesight, and quickly notice the slightest movement around them. In case of disturbance or some kind of threat, the echidna quickly hides in dense bush, or in earthen or rock crevices. In the absence of such natural hiding places, the echidna burrows surprisingly quickly into the ground until only a few needles from the uppermost region of the back remain outside. Or, if the terrain is flat and open, and the ground is hard, they simply curl into a ball.
Few predators can cope with such protection: experienced dingoes, foxes, sometimes cats and pigs can kill an adult echidna by catching it on a patch of hard, equal soil and attacking it in the belly (the ball into which the echidna turns is not solid). Also, according to some reports, Australian monitor lizards prey on young vipers. The female echidna lays one soft-shelled egg 22 days after mating and places it in her pouch. "Incubation" takes ten days; the cub then feeds on milk, which is secreted by the pores of the skin on two milk fields (monotreme mammals do not have nipples) and remains in the mother's pouch for 45 to 55 days, when its needles begin to grow. After that, the mother digs a baby hole, where she leaves the cub, returning every 4-5 days to feed him with milk. Thus, the young echidna feeds until it reaches the age of seven months.
Modern echidnas are united in the echidna family and are divided into two genera:

1. The genus Zaglossus (prochidna) includes two extant species, as well as two species known from fossils.
2. the genus Tachyglossus (echidna) includes the only modern look, and in it, at present, no extinct species have been found.

ABOUT ba species of this genus are endemic to New Guinea. Both are rare, but Lately so that the natives of this island hunt them for food. These echidnas feed on leaf litter in forests, preying on worms and insects.

Australian echidna. The Australian echidna lives in the southeast of New Guinea and almost throughout Australia: from the Australian Alps, where snow falls in winter, to the deserts of the middle of the continent; wherever you can find its main food - ants and termites. The size of this species is somewhat smaller than the species of the genus Zaglossus, and the length of the coat is longer: in the subspecies that lives in the region with the coldest winters (on Tasmania), the coat is sometimes even longer than the needle.
This echidna is a long-lived species and a species that easily adapts to different conditions. In the mountains in winter, it hibernates, and in the desert during the hot daytime it hides in the crevices of rocks, and comes out to hunt only at night (in other parts of the range it is a diurnal species). At the same time, in the desert in cool weather, the short-nosed echidna can be active during the day.