Weird Wonders Down Under
The Echidna Enigma
Echidnas are walking contradictions. They are mammals, but they lay eggs. They are classified as long- or short-beaked, but they don't have beaks; they have fleshy noses that can be either long or short. They have small eyes and no visible ears, but their sight and hearing is highly developed. They don't tolerate heat well, yet they lack sweat glands and do not pant. They have the lowest metabolic rate in comparison to other mammals, so the're not very energetic. They have four legs, the front two face forward but the back two face backward. So they waddle.
Echidnas don't do anything fast!
And yet, they are suprisingly successful as a species:
- They are classed as monotremes, egg-laying mammals. Along with the platypus, they‘re the oldest surviving mammals in the world. They were around 120 million years ago and were on the planet with the dinosaurs. Compare this to humans, who have been around for six million years with modern man appearing 200,000 years ago.
- Echidnas can flourish in many different environments. They are widely distributed in Australia and found in every type of climate and ecosystem in the country.
- Echidnas can live 3 times as long as a dog or cat! They’ve been reported to live for up to 50 years in captivity and 45 years in the wild.
- Their activities support the ecosystem they are in. They are key cultivators; for example, with their digging and burrowing, they enhance soil aeration, moisture penetration and seed dispersal.
- They have some neat survival tricks, for example, they can go into torpor. Torpor decreases the echidnas metabolism to reduce it's energy requirements. This is very useful after a bushfire when food is not plentiful!