Pictured: Short-beaked echidna & skeleton.
The short-beaked echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus) is one of four living species of echidna and the only member of the genus Tachyglossus. It is covered in fur and spines and has a distinctive snout and a specialized tongue which it uses to catch its prey at a great speed. It can eat quickly; a specimen of around 3 kg (6.6 lb) can ingest 200 g (7.1 oz) of termites in 10 minutes. Like the other extant monotremes, the short-beaked echidna lays eggs; the monotremes are the only group of mammals to do so.
This echidna has extremely strong front limbs and claws due to its mechanical advantage which allows it to burrow quickly with great power. As it needs to be able to survive underground it has a significant tolerance to high levels of carbon dioxide and low levels of oxygen. It has no weapons or fighting ability but repels predators by curling into a ball and deterring them with its spines.
Female echidnas lay one egg a year and the mating period is the only time the otherwise solitary animals meet one another. A young echidna is the size of a grape but grows rapidly on its mother’s milk, which is very rich in nutrients. Baby echidnas eventually grow too large and spiky to stay in the pouch and, at around six months of age, they leave the burrow on their own.
The species is found throughout Australia, where it is the most widespread native mammal, and in coastal and highland regions of southwestern New Guinea, where it is known as the mungwe in the Daribi and Chimbu languages.
(via moreanimalia)
Source: bone-lust
