What is an echidna?
An echidna is a spiny, egg-laying mammal found across Australia and in New Guinea. Along with the platypus, it is one of the only living monotremes, the mammals that lay eggs.
The short-beaked echidna, Australia's only echidna species, is covered in sharp spines mixed with fur. It has a long snout and a sticky tongue for catching ants and termites, and strong claws for digging into nests and logs.
Echidnas live almost everywhere in Australia, from snowy mountains to deserts and suburban bushland. When threatened, they curl into a ball or dig straight down into the soil, leaving only their spines exposed.
Eggs and puggles
A female lays a single leathery egg directly into a temporary pouch on her belly. After about ten days, the baby, called a puggle, hatches and drinks milk that seeps from patches of skin, since echidnas have no nipples.
The puggle stays in the pouch until its spines start to grow, then is left in a burrow while the mother feeds.
Echidnas appear on the Australian five-cent coin.
Did You Know?
During mating season, several male echidnas may follow a female in a line called an echidna train.