| Echidnas are monotremes, or egg-laying mammals. The female deposits a single egg in her pouch while lying on her back. The egg hatches only about ten days later, but a young echidna stays in its mother’s pouch, feeding from milk “patches,” until its spines begin to develop. An echidna’s spines are its protection. If threatened, the animal curls up in a ball, offering a mouthful of sharp spikes to its attacker. On soft soil, it will use its long foreclaws to bury itself and escape heat and disturbances. The short-beaked echidna is Tachyglossus aculeatus. |
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