Enchinda

Echidna Facts

• Echidna’s scientific name is Tachyglossus aculeatus (spiny fast-tongue or Spiny anteater).
• Echidna's lifespan is over 45 years
• Echidnas grow up to 50cm (20") in length
• Their tongue is very long and sticky and is perfect for catching the hundreds of termites and ants that make up their staple diet
• Each of the echidna’s spines is formed from a single hair
• An echidna can lift objects twice its weight
• Echidnas drink water and can swim
• Like the male Platypus, the male echidna has spurs, but has no venom glands attached to them
• Echidna is slightly less intelligent than a cat

Mating takes place Belly-to-belly, which avoids the male spiking himself on the female’s spinesThe echidna is best known not only as a mascot of Sydney Olympic Games 2000, but also for its amazing biology. Like the platypus, this unusual mammal lays eggs and suckles its young. The echidna and platypus are the only members of a primitive group of mammals known as monotremes.Found all over Australia, the short-beaked Echidna is covered with sharp spines and has strong legs and claws.

It has tiny eggs!

Echidnas are widely distributed throughout Australia and Tasmania. Although not commonly seen, they are not considered threatened. They live in a wide variety of habitats, from cold mountainous peaks to deserts.
They usually found in places with a good supply of ants and termites, where it lies on an ant-mound, sticks out its tongue and lets ants walk onto it. Echidnas have no teeth. It crushes its insect food between horny plates on its tongue and the roof of its mouth.