Echidnas are egg laying mammals. Along with the platypus, the four living echidna species are classified in the monotreme order. Monotremes are mammals and thus produce milk for their young and create their own heat (along with other mammalian traits) but this unique mammals have a cloaca and lay eggs. Echidnas only lay a single egg during the breeding season, though they may have plenty of partners! Echidnas live in a wide variety of habitats from sea level to mountainous regions. They can live just about anywhere they can find food! These little animals come equipped with spines for defense which protects them from predators like dingoes, though they are still hunted by humans and are threatened by habitat loss as well as collisions with cars and other threats. Echidnas are able to enter low activity states - like hibernation - for upwards of two months at a time, though usually these states are shorter with periods of activity in between.
Scientific Name: Family - Tachyglossidae
Range: Australia and New Guinea
Size: 15-37lb (7-17kg)
Diet: ants, termites, earthworms, beetle larvae, etc.
Lifespan: 40+ years
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Credits via Flickr:
karen johns - https://www.flickr.com/photos/54516384@N02/48967092592; https://www.flickr.com/photos/54516384@N02/28110964447; https://www.flickr.com/photos/54516384@N02/48967097842
Matt Ryall - https://www.flickr.com/photos/mjryall/4324186231; https://www.flickr.com/photos/mjryall/4324929482
Cazz - https://www.flickr.com/photos/cazzjj/28818803723
Alan & Flora Botting - https://www.flickr.com/photos/alan-flora_botting/49983938342
lin padgham - https://www.flickr.com/photos/linpadgham/30226600097
Brianna Laugher - https://www.flickr.com/photos/pfctdayelise/36194021433
Steve Bittinger - https://www.flickr.com/photos/sbittinger/10144703326
Colin J - https://www.flickr.com/photos/coljac/3392131862
Ed Dunens - https://www.flickr.com/photos/blachswan/15458392309
Rod Waddington - https://www.flickr.com/photos/rod_waddington/31165425862
Credits via Wiki Users:
Gunjan Pandey - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Short-beaked_echidna.ogv; https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Short_nosed_echidna.ogv
Cretus - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Short-beaked_echidna_in_suburban-Sydney_backyard.webm
Other attributions:
Peter Kuttner - https://vimeo.com/97710855
Jane Hammond - https://vimeo.com/125530415
Trevallan - https://vimeo.com/120849332
Wendy's Place - https://vimeo.com/298822764
Mel - https://vimeo.com/206674645
Cowirrie - https://vimeo.com/309597834
davidkrilamhauge - https://freesound.org/people/davidkrilamhauge/sounds/501739
Ian R McCann - https://collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/species/8416
Websites used for research collection:
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Australian_Mammals/Ys_NC1P9AX4C
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Neurobiology_of_Monotremes/3KoaAgAAQBAJ
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Echidnas/WArLBAAAQBAJ
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Echidna/2UQH-YrWwCYC
https://www.google.com/books/edition/In_Pursuit_of_Early_Mammals/wuwtxuJoX6IC
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Mammal_Teeth/BGGTYS2AgncC
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Constructing_Intellectual_Property/bW3BqDL_5UcC
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Mammalogy/GVy2AgAAQBAJ
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Manson_s_Tropical_Diseases/BhRTORvhXSMC
https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=161170#null
https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Tachyglossidae
https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Zaglossus_bruijni
https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Zaglossus_bartoni
https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Zaglossus_attenboroughi
https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Tachyglossus_aculeatus
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=An-z8Q3gMzo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHjdIXN9v2g
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frZGhk0i228
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YB6mVWadKQ
This video is licensed under a CC BY-SA 3.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ )*.
*you can find information about all the different types of CC licenses here: https://creativecommons.org/
**changes were made to the original
Transcript: alugha
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