Echidna

Echidna, the spiny anteater,Echidna Retrieved on 21 October 2007 is a monotreme that lives in Australia and in New Guinea. They are the living members of the family Tachyglossidae.

Echnidas have a long, tube-like mouth with a sticky tongue. They are also covered in spines. They have mammary glands, and lay eggs.

The echidna has a method of protecting itself. With its long, sharp claws, they quickly dig a hole until only their spines are showing when they are hiding in the hole. The predator is not be able to get it without injuring itself on the spines.
When there is a fire, the echidna digs down out of reach of the fire.

 Prey 
The short-beaked echidna (Tachyglossus) eats termites and ants. The three Zaglossus species also eat other small insects and grubs. Echidnas pick up the prey with their sticky tongues. There is a separate page for Zaglossus.

 Species 
 Family Tachyglossidae
 Genus Tachyglossus
 Tachyglossus aculeatus
 Genus Zaglossus
 Zaglossus attenboroughi
 Zaglossus bartoni
 Zaglossus bruijni

 References 

 Other websites 

Echidna 

Category:Monotremes
Category:Living fossils