What do echidnas do when threatened?

Dig down or curl into a spiny ball

Echidna Quiz: Spiny Anteater Snouts, Puggles and Spines

This echidna quiz rolls up with Australia's spiny anteater. Play 10 interactive questions on spines made of keratin, a long beak-like snout, a sticky tongue, ants and termites, laying a single egg into a pouch, babies called puggles, short-beaked and long-beaked species, electroreception, digging straight down and its place on Australia's 5-cent coin.

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🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

Group
What kind of mammal is the echidna?
Spines
What are echidna spines made of?
Snout
What is the echidna's snout like?
Food
What do echidnas mainly eat?
Tongue
How do they catch insects?
Egg
Where does a female echidna keep her egg?
Puggle
What is a baby echidna called?
Species
Where do long-beaked echidnas live?
Defense
What do echidnas do when threatened?
Coin
Which Australian coin shows an echidna?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: What kind of mammal is the echidna?
Answer: An egg-laying monotreme
It is related to the platypus.
Q2: What are echidna spines made of?
Answer: Keratin
They are modified hairs.
Q3: What is the echidna's snout like?
Answer: Long and beak-like
It probes soil and logs.
Q4: What do echidnas mainly eat?
Answer: Ants and termites
They are called spiny anteaters.
Q5: How do they catch insects?
Answer: With a long sticky tongue
They have no teeth.
Q6: Where does a female echidna keep her egg?
Answer: In a temporary pouch
It hatches there.
Q7: What is a baby echidna called?
Answer: A puggle
It stays in the pouch until spines grow.
Q8: Where do long-beaked echidnas live?
Answer: New Guinea
They are endangered.
Q9: What do echidnas do when threatened?
Answer: Dig down or curl into a spiny ball
Only spines remain exposed.
Q10: Which Australian coin shows an echidna?
Answer: The 5-cent coin
It has appeared since 1966.

The Spiny Anteater

The echidna is an egg-laying mammal, or monotreme, related to the platypus. Its spines are modified hairs made of keratin, and it has a long, beak-like snout that probes soil and logs. The short-beaked echidna lives across Australia and New Guinea, while long-beaked echidnas live in New Guinea and are endangered.

Echidnas eat ants and termites, catching them with a long sticky tongue, since they have no teeth. Their snouts can sense electric fields from prey. When threatened, they dig straight down or curl into a spiny ball.

A female lays a single egg into a temporary pouch, where it hatches into a baby called a puggle. The puggle stays in the pouch until its spines start to grow. The echidna appears on Australia's 5-cent coin.

What This Quiz Teaches

Animal fans will enjoy these questions.

What echidnas are
What their spines are
What they eat
How they reproduce
Where they live

Did You Know?

Echidnas can live for decades.
They form mating trains in winter.
Their body temperature is low.
They swim when needed.
Their hind feet point backward for digging.