Echidna
| Echidnas Temporal range:
| |
|---|---|
| Short-beaked echidna | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Synapsida |
| Clade: | Mammaliaformes |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Monotremata |
| Superfamily: | Ornithorhynchoidea |
| Family: | Gill, 1872 |
| Type genus | |
| Tachyglossus Illiger, 1811
| |
| Species | |
|
Genus Tachyglossus | |
| Echidna range
Western long-beaked echidna
Eastern long-beaked echidna
Sir David's long-beaked echidna
| |
Echidnas (/ɪˈkɪdnəz/), sometimes known as spiny anteaters,[1] are quill-covered[2] monotremes (egg-laying mammals) belonging to the family Tachyglossidae /tækiˈɡlɒsɪdiː/, living in Australia and New Guinea. The four extant species of echidnas and the platypus are the only living mammals that lay eggs and the only surviving members of the order Monotremata.[3] The diet of some species consists of ants and termites, but they are not closely related to the American true anteaters or to hedgehogs. Their young are called puggles.
Echidnas evolved between 20 and 50 million years ago, descending from a platypus-like monotreme.[4] This ancestor was aquatic, but echidnas adapted to life on land,[4] where a single individual can move seven tons of soil each year, making them important for the environment.[5]
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
pwstSBEwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Spines and Quills". Animal Diversity Web. University of Michigan. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
nwf03was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
Phillipswas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Eldridge, David John (4 March 2021). "Dig this: a tiny echidna moves 8 trailer-loads of soil a year, helping tackle climate change". The Conversation.