Varieties and habitat of echidna, appearance and physiological characteristics, description, nutrition, reproduction, tips for keeping at home. Echidna belongs to oviparous mammals from the order Monotremes. This is an absolutely unique creature, which, together with the platypus, zoologists singled out into an independent zoological detachment called Monotremata - Bird Beast. This name well explains the amazing features of the anatomical structure and physiology of these two animals, which lay eggs, like birds, but feed newborns with milk, like mammals.
Varieties and habitat of echidna
For the first time, European science learned about the existence of echidna from a report by George Shaw, a member of the Royal Zoological Society in London, read in 1792. But Shaw, who compiled the first description of this animal, was initially mistaken in classifying it as an Anteater. Later, having learned a lot of new and unusual things about this wonderful creature, zoologists corrected the discoverer's mistake.
Currently, zoologists subdivide the Echidnova family into three genera:
- real echidnas (Tachyglossus);
- prochidnas (Zaglossus);
- now extinct genus (Megalibgwilia).
The only representative of the true echidnas (Tachyglossus) from those currently existing in nature is the Australian echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus), which has five subspecies:
- Tachyglossus aculeatus multiaculeatus, lives on Kangaroo Island;
- Tachyglossus aculeatus setosus, Tasmanian echidna, habitat - the island of Tasmania and the Furneau group of islands in the Bass Strait;
- Tachyglossus aculeatus acanthion, distributed over the Northern Territory of Australia and Western Australia;
- Tachyglossus aculeatus, in the Australian states of Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland;
- Tachyglossus aculeatus lawesii, habitat - the islands of New Guinea, as well as rainforests in northeastern Queensland in Australia.
The appearance and physiological features of the echidna
The echidna combines the external features of at least two mammals at once - a porcupine and an anteater, which makes its appearance very extraordinary and easily recognizable.
The standard length of the Australian echidna is 30–45 centimeters and weighs from 2.5 to 5 kg. The Tasmanian subspecies of this mammal is noticeably larger - up to 53 centimeters.
The body of the animal has a somewhat flattened shape, with a small head, short thick strong paws and a small, curvy tail.
The muzzle of the beast is conically elongated and gradually turns into a kind of cylindrical "beak" up to 75 centimeters long. The shape of the "beak" can be either straight or somewhat curved (depending on the subspecies).
The "beak" is the most important organ, both for detecting prey and for absorbing it. In addition to a very sensitive nose and mouth opening, the "beak" contains mechanoreceptors and electroreceptors - special cells of the body that are capable of picking up the slightest fluctuations in the electric field caused by even the weak movement of insects. There are no more electroreceptor cells in any of the mammals known to modern science (with the exception of the platypus).
Features of the structure of the mouth-beak are such that the echidna cannot fully, like other animals, open its mouth to swallow its prey. Its mouth opening does not exceed 5 mm. Therefore, she is only able, like an anteater, to "shoot" her long thin and sticky tongue in the direction of food, pulling into her mouth everything that stuck to it and is able to pass in size into such a small hole. The beak-mouth of the "spiny anteater", as this bird is sometimes called, is completely toothless. Instead of teeth, small sharp horny needles are used to grind solid food, dotting the root of the tongue and the palate of the mouth.
The ears of the echidna are located under the thick hair of the head and are visually almost invisible even on the naked body of the cub. At the same time, the bird's hearing is excellent. Especially in the low frequency range emitted by the underground movement of insects.
The eyes of a mammal are small, with, in addition to the eyelids, blinking membranes. Despite the small size of her eyes, she has excellent vision (until recently it was considered the opposite), which, in combination with keen hearing and excellent sense of smell, helps her to detect danger in a timely manner and in most cases avoid direct collisions with predators.
Leading an uncommunicative lifestyle, the echidna almost does not emit voice sounds. Only at moments of extreme excitement of the mammal can a soft grunt be heard. The body of the animal is covered with brown-brown hair, the sides and back are protected by long and sharp, like a porcupine, needles. The length of the needles reaches 5–6 centimeters.
Powerful strong five-toed paws (three-toed ones are found in the prochidna) are armed with strong wide claws and are well adapted for digging the ground, moving large stones and destroying termite mounds.
In adult males, on the heels of the hind limbs, there are sharp and hollow horny spurs inside. The pioneering zoologists of the echidna mistakenly took these spurs for special poisonous thorns (perhaps this is where the too poisonous name of the animal comes from), designed to protect against attacking predators. Modern research has shown that these spurs do not contain any poison and are used by the beast exclusively for combing out their prickly skins.
A fold of skin (brood bursa) is formed on the female's belly on the eve of the mating season, in which she carries the egg she laid, and then the hatched cub, feeding him with milk, like all marsupial mammals of Australia.
The uniqueness of the mammalian anatomy also lies in the presence of the so-called cloaca, into which both the intestinal and urogenital tracts are simultaneously excreted. For this reason, the echidna was assigned to the zoological order Monotremes. The male penis is also unique, it is large, having three branched heads at once - probably to ensure a more reliable result when mating during the mating season.
Lifestyle and behavior of echidna in nature
The habits and lifestyle of the Australian echidna are not homogeneous and depend not only on the individual nuances of the behavior of each of the subspecies of the animal, but also on the climate, natural landscape and the specifics of a particular habitat.
The "spiny anteater" can be found in a wide variety of areas of the Australian mainland and adjacent islands - in hot deserts and in dry bush, in warm humid equatorial forests and in the shrub forests of the foothills. Echidna feels equally good at water bodies, on farmlands and even in urban suburbs. If only there was enough food, and there were fewer predatory animals.
In the foothills of the island of Tasmania and the Australian Alps, where the temperature drops significantly below zero for several months a year, and the ground is covered with a snow blanket for a long time, the animal goes into hibernation, having previously dug a deep burrow for itself. The presence of a considerable amount of subcutaneous fat accumulated over the summer allows you to easily survive this cold period of lack of food.
In snowless and warm regions, this thorny beast is awake all year round.
In areas with a temperate continental climate, the echidna leads an active lifestyle, regardless of the time of day. But in hot semi-deserts it goes hunting only at night, when the heat subsides. The organism of this creature is extremely poorly tolerated by increased heat indices due to the complete anatomical absence of sweat glands and its own low body temperature (30–32 ° C). "Spiny anteater" is a solitary animal capable of communicating with its own kind only during the mating period. In everyday life, these animals, although they adhere to a certain habitat, do not wage internecine wars among themselves, calmly allowing neighbors to sometimes violate the boundaries of the marked areas.
Due to the peculiarities of the anatomy of the body and large curved claws, the mammal moves somewhat awkwardly and relatively slowly. And although this bird cannot be attributed to waterfowl or water-loving animals, the animal swims very decently. If necessary, he can easily overcome a wide river by swimming.
Despite the fact that the Australian echidna has a vast habitat on the Australian continent, many of its habits have not yet been fully studied - this animal leads a too secretive lifestyle.
Echidna food
The structural features of the oral cavity, in general, determined the diet of the echidna. Since the amount of potential prey is limited by the size of the mouth opening, small insects form the basis of food. First of all, these are termites and ants, which the thorny animal gets to by digging up anthills and crumbling termite mounds. In addition, the "spiny anteater" feeds on slugs, snails, worms and insect larvae.
Excellent scent, as well as electroreceptors of the "beak" allow you to find prey deep underground, under stones and tree stumps. The strong clawed paws and the animal's agile all-pervading tongue put into play successfully complete the job. When hunting for prey, the tongue of the beast is able to "shoot" at a target with a machine gun firing frequency - about 100 times per minute, penetrating to a depth of 18 centimeters.
In exceptional cases, the echidna can do without food for a month, due to its own reserves of subcutaneous fat.
Breeding echidna
The mating season for this wonderful animal begins in May and ends in September. To attract a partner, or rather, partners (several males can follow one female at once, forming competition), the female emits a sharp musky smell and leaves fragrant messages to the “suitors” with the help of the cloaca.
The courtship of males for the "bride" can last for several weeks, ultimately ending in the mating of the winner male with the female, which occurs while lying on its side. In time, mating lasts about an hour, after which the couple scatters forever.
The duration of pregnancy is from 21 to 28 days. It ends with the laying by the female of one or two very small eggs (weight about 1.5 grams) of beige-cream color, having a leathery shell.
Barely laying eggs somewhere in a secluded dry and warm place - a brood hole, the echidna immediately moves them to its bag. How she does this, in fact, without a normal mouth size and perfect paws, zoologists cannot yet conclusively say. After the eggs are placed in the pouch, the female carefully bears them for another 10 days before the offspring appear.
Life and nursing baby echidna
The hatched calf, weighing only about 0.5 grams, independently moves to the front of the bag to an area of skin called the milky field (in this zone there are about 150 pores of the mammary glands), where it begins to feed on the echidna's milk, pink in color (from an excess of iron content) … In the future, he remains in the mother's pouch for almost two months, quickly gaining weight. Two months later, the "baby" already weighs 400-450 grams. By this time, the cub has formed its own thorns, and the mother releases it from the bag into a previously prepared shelter hole.
Over the next four months, the grown echidna is in this shelter, and the mother comes to feed her no more than once every 5-10 days. The independent life of a newly minted young representative begins at the age of eight months, and puberty begins at 2-3 years.
Mating of the "spiny anteater" occurs quite rarely, according to the available observations - no more than once every 3–7 years. Life expectancy in nature is 15-16 years.
Natural enemies of echidnas and methods of defense
On the Australian continent and in Tasmania, the main enemies of echidnas are: dingo dogs, marsupial Tasmanian devils, monitor lizards, foxes and feral dogs and cats.
A good sense of smell, keen eyesight and excellent hearing help this prickly and rather harmless creature to avoid danger. Having discovered the enemy, the echidna always tries to leave unnoticed. If this fails, then it is taken simultaneously with all four paws to dig a hole, instantly plunging deep into the ground and leaving the back covered with needles for the enemy's attack. This is her most favorite defense technique.
If, for some reason, it is not possible to dig a depression, the animal, like a hedgehog, curls up into a spiny ball. True, this method of salvation is not so perfect. Experienced Australian predators have long learned how to overcome curled up echidnas, rolling them into the water or rolling them on the ground for a long time and still trying to grab the stomach unprotected by needles (when the muscle of the animal responsible for twisting into a ball gets tired and the prickly ball opens slightly).
Often, a thorny mammal becomes a victim of aboriginal hunters, who hunt it solely for fat, which is considered a kind of delicacy among local tribes.
Tips for keeping echidna at home
It may seem that such an unusual and exotic animal is ill-suited for the role of a pet. In fact, this is not the case. There are many examples of successful home keeping of this thorn-bearer.
Of course, keeping such a creature in a limited area of a city apartment or walking freely around the house is not worth it. Furniture and the interior of the premises can easily be seriously damaged from this - the habit of turning over stones and digging up anthills in search of food from this savage is ineradicable.
Therefore, the optimal conditions for keeping echidna are a spacious enclosure in front of the house or in the utility yard, which reliably protects the animal from cold, heat and too annoying visitors. Do not forget - the "spiny anteater" prefers solitude. Which, however, does not exclude his walks around the yard. The animal has a docile and peaceful character, gets along well with household members and other pets. Never behaves aggressively. The only thing that can suffer from his claws is your favorite flower garden or vegetable garden, which he will definitely check for anything tasty.
With regard to the diet. At home, the animal is quite capable of doing without its favorite ants and termites. Echidna gladly eats necessarily chopped hard eggs, fruits, bread, as well as minced meat. He is especially fond of milk and raw chicken eggs. Do not forget about a container with drinking water.
Efforts on the part of the owner to care for the thorny skin of the pet is not required. The animal is able to do all the necessary manipulations on its own.
In captivity, this animal practically does not breed. Only five zoos in the world managed to get the offspring of echidna, but none of the born pets survived to adulthood.
For more on echidna, see this video:
