Transcript:

Today on Animal Fact Files we’re discussing echidnas. There are four living species of echidnas: the short beaked echidna as well as the three long beaked echidna species. Along with the platypus, echidnas are the sole living representatives of the monotremes - a group of mammals who have many mammalian features like milk production and the ability to create their own heat, but are distinctly different from any other living mammal species because they lay eggs.

The echidna breeding season begins around July. Male echidnas sense pheromones produced by a female and make their way towards the lady, sometimes in droves! There may be five or more male echidnas following a female in an “echidna train”. The males will all attempt to nuzzle the female, pushing each other out of the way in the process.

Echidnas are usually solitary, but they’re not necessarily aggressive towards each other. It’s not like they have teeth - pfft! Male echidnas do come equipped with spurs on their back legs, though these don’t seem to inject venom like a platypus’s spurs. As a side note, an echidna’s back legs face their rear ends!

Echidnas come with defense in the form of spines and these actually give the female a lot of control during the breeding season. It’s not until the female lowers her spines that she’ll mate. She may mate with multiple males during this time, but she’ll only produce a single egg. This egg will be kept in a pouch on her stomach for about ten days until it hatches. Prepare yourselves because this is adorable. The baby echidna is called a puggle. It stays in its mother’s pouch for about two months. After this, the baby will begin growing its own spines and the mama, not wanting to deal with those spiky bits, will transfer her baby to a burrow.

Echidnas use burrows for resting, and may even go through periods of low activity - basically hibernation - if it’s too cold. Echidnas have strong claws for digging out these burrows but may also use the abandoned dens of other animals and natural burrow formations. The puggle will remain in its mother’s burrow for another half a year, all the while being fed by mom until she kicks them out. What’s amazing is that these animals can live to be more than forty years old in the wild!

The family name for echidnas means “swift tongue”. Short beaked echidnas primarily eat ants and termites while long beaked echidnas primarily eat earthworms, though all the echidnas also eat other invertebrates like underground grubs and beetle larvae. Long beaked echidnas are larger than short beaked echidnas, but short beaked echidnas have much longer tongues - not unlike the long tongues numbats!

Echidnas, however, don’t have stomachs! Sure they have a digestive system with enzymatic processes for breaking down their food, but they have no stomach to speak of! Echidnas are also able to sense the weak electrical fields of their prey using electroreceptors on the tips of their noses - kind of like sharks and… well platypuses!

Echidnas live in a wide variety of habitats from sea level to mountainous regions from deserts to lush forests. Basically anywhere their food goes, they can go! Short beaked echidnas are widespread throughout Australia, including Tasmania, as well as New Guinea, but long beaked echidnas are currently only found in New Guinea, though introductory efforts to Australia have been made.

As a side note, there is a genus of moray eels called “echidna” but it’s hopefully rather obvious that these animals have no relation to the echidnas we’ve discussed today! Superficially, echidnas look like hedgehogs, but this is an example of convergent evolution where two animals have developed traits that appear similar but are not in fact related to one another. Echidnas are much more closely related to the platypus!

For more facts on echidnas, check out the link in the description. Happy Birthday to Hookfang who made today’s request! Give a thumbs up if you learned something new today, and thank you for watching Animal Fact Files!