Echidna

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Echidnas
Temporal range: Pliocene–Recent
Short-beaked echidna in ANBG.jpg
Short-beaked echidna
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Monotremata
Superfamily: Ornithorhynchoidea
Family: Tachyglossidae
Gill, 1872
Type genus
Tachyglossus
Illiger, 1811
Species

Genus Tachyglossus
    T. aculeatus
Genus Zaglossus
    Z. attenboroughi
    Z. bruijnii
    Z. bartoni
Genus † Megalibgwilia
   † M. owenii
   † M. robusta
Genus † Murrayglossus
   † M. hacketti

Contents

Range map of extant members of the Tachyglossidae.png
Echidna range
   Short-beaked echidna
   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]

Etymology

Echidnas are possibly named after Echidna, a creature from Greek mythology who was half-woman, half-snake, as the animal was perceived to have qualities of both mammals and reptiles.[ citation needed ] An alternative explanation is a confusion with Ancient Greek: ἐχῖνος , romanized: ekhînos, lit. 'hedgehog, sea urchin'. [5]

Physical characteristics

Echidnas are medium-sized, solitary mammals covered with coarse hair and spines. [6] The spines are modified hairs and are made of keratin, the same fibrous protein that makes up fur, claws, nails, and horn sheaths in animals. [2]

Spines of the echidna Onkapringa River NP echidna spines P1000601.jpg
Spines of the echidna

Superficially, they resemble the anteaters of South America and other spiny mammals such as hedgehogs and porcupines. They are usually black or brown in coloration. There have been several reports of albino echidnas with pink eyes and white spines. [6] They have elongated and slender snouts that function as both mouth and nose, and which have electrosensors to find earthworms, termites, ants, and other burrowing prey. [7] This is similar to the platypus, which has 40,000 electroreceptors on its bill, but the long-beaked echidna has only 2,000, while the short-beaked echidna, which lives in a drier environment, has no more than 400 at the tip of its snout. [8]

Echidnas have short, strong limbs with large claws, and are powerful diggers. Their hind claws are elongated and curved backwards to aid in digging. Echidnas have tiny mouths and toothless jaws, and feed by tearing open soft logs, anthills and the like, and licking off prey with their long, sticky tongues. The ears are slits on the sides of their heads under the spines. The external ear is created by a large cartilaginous funnel, deep in the muscle. [6] At 33 °C (91.4 °F), echidnas also possess the second-lowest active body temperature of all mammals, behind the platypus.

Despite their appearance, echidnas are capable swimmers, as they evolved from platypus-like ancestors. When swimming, they expose their snout and some of their spines, and are known to journey to water to bathe. [9]

The first European drawing of an echidna was made in Adventure Bay, Tasmania by HMS Providence's third lieutenant George Tobin during William Bligh's second breadfruit voyage. [10]

Diet

The short-beaked echidna's diet consists mostly of ants and termites, while the Zaglossus (long-beaked) species typically eat worms and insect larvae. [11] The tongues of long-beaked echidnas have sharp, tiny spines that help them capture their prey. [11] They have no teeth, so they break down their food by grinding it between the bottoms of their mouths and their tongues. [12] Echidnas' faeces are 7 cm (3 in) long and are cylindrical in shape; they are usually broken and unrounded, and composed largely of dirt and ant-hill material. [12]

Like all mammals, echidnas feed their young on milk, which contains various factors to sustain their growth and development. [13] [14]

Habitat

Echidnas do not tolerate extreme temperatures; they shelter from harsh weather in caves and rock crevices. Echidnas are found in forests and woodlands, hiding under vegetation, roots or piles of debris. They sometimes use the burrows (both abandoned and in use) of animals such as rabbits and wombats. Individual echidnas have large, mutually overlapping territories. [12]

Anatomy

Echidnas and platypuses are the only egg-laying mammals, the monotremes. The average lifespan of an echidna in the wild is estimated at 14–16 years. Fully grown females can weigh about 4.5 kilograms (9.9 lb), the males 33% larger, at about 6 kilograms (13 lb). [12] Though the internal reproductive organs differ, both sexes possess an identical single cloaca opening for urination, defecation, and mating. [6]

Male echidnas have non-venomous spurs on the hind feet, similar to the venomous male platypus. [15]

Due to their low metabolism and accompanying stress resistance, echidnas are long-lived for their size; the longest recorded lifespan for a captive echidna is 50 years, with anecdotal accounts of wild individuals reaching 45 years. [16]

The echidna's brain is half neocortex, [17] compared to 80% of a human brain. [18] [19] Contrary to previous research, the echidna does enter REM sleep, but only in a comfortable temperature around 25 °C (77 °F). At lower or higher temperatures of 15 °C (59 °F) and 28 °C (82 °F), REM sleep is suppressed. [20]

Reproduction

The female lays a single soft-shelled, leathery egg 22 days after mating, and deposits it directly into her pouch. An egg weighs 1.5 to 2 grams (0.05 to 0.07 oz) [21] and is about 1.4 centimetres (0.55 in) long. While hatching, the baby echidna opens the leather shell with a reptile-like egg tooth. [22] Hatching takes place after 10 days of gestation; the young echidna, called a puggle, [23] [24] born larval and fetus-like, then sucks milk from the pores of the two milk patches (monotremes have no teats) and remains in the pouch for 45 to 55 days, [25] at which time it starts to develop spines. The mother digs a nursery burrow and deposits the young, returning every five days to suckle it until it is weaned at seven months. Puggles will stay within their mother's den for up to a year before leaving. [12]

A short-beaked echidna building a defensive burrow in French Island National Park (43 seconds)

Male echidnas have a four-headed penis. [26] During mating, the heads on one side "shut down" and do not grow in size; the other two are used to release semen into the female's two-branched reproductive tract. Each time it copulates, it alternates heads in sets of two. [27] [28] When not in use, the penis is retracted inside a preputial sac in the cloaca. The male echidna's penis is 7 centimetres (2.8 in) long when erect, and its shaft is covered with penile spines. [29] These may be used to induce ovulation in the female. [30]

It is a challenge to study the echidna in its natural habitat, and they show no interest in mating while in captivity. Prior to 2007, no one had ever seen an echidna ejaculate. There have been previous attempts, trying to force the echidna to ejaculate through the use of electrically stimulated ejaculation in order to obtain semen samples but this has only resulted in the penis swelling. [28] Breeding season begins in late June and extends through September. During mating season, a female may be followed by a line or "train" of up to ten males, the youngest trailing last, and some males switching between lines. [12]

Threats

Echidnas are very timid. When frightened, they attempt to partially bury themselves and curl into a ball similar to a hedgehog. Strong front arms allow echidnas to dig in and hold fast against a predator pulling them from the hole.

Their many predators include feral cats, foxes, domestic dogs, and goannas. Snakes pose a large threat when they slither into echidna burrows and prey on the spineless young puggles.

They are easily stressed and injured by handling. Some ways to help echidnas include picking up litter, causing less pollution, planting vegetation for shelter, supervising pets, reporting hurt echidnas, and leaving them undisturbed. [12]

Evolution

Short-beaked echidna skeleton Echidna skeleton.jpg
Short-beaked echidna skeleton

The divergence between oviparous (egg-laying) and viviparous (offspring develop internally) mammals is believed to date to the Triassic period. [31] Most findings from genetics studies (especially of nuclear genes) are in agreement with the paleontological dating, but some other evidence, like mitochondrial DNA, give slightly different dates. [32]

Molecular clock data suggest echidnas split from platypuses between 19 and 48 million years ago, so that platypus-like fossils dating back to over 112.5 million years ago represent basal forms, rather than close relatives of the modern platypus. [4] This would imply that echidnas evolved from water-foraging ancestors that returned to land living, which put them in competition with marsupials.[ further explanation needed ] Although extant monotremes lack adult teeth (platypuses have teeth only as juveniles), many extinct monotreme species have been identified based on the morphology of their teeth. [7] Of the eight genes involved in tooth development, four have been lost in both platypus and echidna, indicating that the loss of teeth occurred before the echidna-platypus split. [22]

Further evidence of water-foraging ancestors can be found in some of the echidna's anatomy, including hydrodynamic streamlining, dorsally projecting hind limbs acting as rudders, and locomotion founded on hypertrophied humeral long-axis rotation, which provides an efficient swimming stroke. [4]

Oviparous reproduction in monotremes may give them an advantage over marsupials in some environments. [4] Their observed adaptive radiation contradicts the assumption that monotremes are frozen in morphological and molecular evolution.

It has been suggested that echidnas originally evolved in New Guinea when it was isolated from Australia and from marsupials. This would explain their rarity in the fossil record, their abundance in present times in New Guinea, and their original adaptation to terrestrial niches, presumably without competition from marsupials. [33]

Taxonomy

Cladogram of Tachyglossidae by Upham et al. 2019 [34] [35]
Tachyglossidae

Echidnas are a small clade with two extant genera and four species. [36] The genus Zaglossus includes three extant and two fossil species, with only one extant species from the genus Tachyglossus .

Zaglossus

The Western long-beaked echidna, which is endemic to New Guinea Long-beakedEchidna.jpg
The Western long-beaked echidna, which is endemic to New Guinea

The three living Zaglossus species are endemic to New Guinea. [36] They are rare and are hunted for food. They forage in leaf litter on the forest floor, eating earthworms and insects. The species are

Tachyglossus

In Australia, the short-beaked echidna may be found in many environments, including urban parkland, such as the shores of Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra, as depicted here. EchidnainCanberra.JPG
In Australia, the short-beaked echidna may be found in many environments, including urban parkland, such as the shores of Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra, as depicted here.

The short-beaked echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus) is found in southern, southeast and northeast New Guinea, and also occurs in almost all Australian environments, from the snow-clad Australian Alps to the deep deserts of the Outback, essentially anywhere ants and termites are available. It is smaller than the Zaglossus species, and it has longer hair.

A short-beaked echidna curled into a ball; the snout is visible on the right Echidna, Exmouth.jpg
A short-beaked echidna curled into a ball; the snout is visible on the right

Despite the similar dietary habits and methods of consumption to those of an anteater, there is no evidence supporting the idea that echidna-like monotremes have been myrmecophagic (ant or termite-eating) since the Cretaceous. The fossil evidence of invertebrate-feeding bandicoots and rat-kangaroos, from around the time of the platypus–echidna divergence and pre-dating Tachyglossus, show evidence that echidnas expanded into new ecospace despite competition from marsupials. [38]

Additionally, extinct echidnas continue to be described by taxonomists;

Megalibgwilia

The genus Megalibgwilia is known only from fossils: [39]

Murrayglossus

The genus Murrayglossus is known only from fossils: [39]

As food

The Kunwinjku people of Western Arnhem Land (Australia) call the echidna ngarrbek, [40] and regard it as a prized food and "good medicine". [note 1] [41] The echidna is hunted at night, gutted, and filled with hot stones and mandak ( Persoonia falcata ) leaves. [42] According to Larrakia elders Una Thompson and Stephanie Thompson Nganjmirra, once captured, an echidna is carried attached to the wrist like a thick bangle.[ citation needed ]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Reverend Peterson Nganjmirra, personal comment.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Platypus</span> Species of mammal

The platypus, sometimes referred to as the duck-billed platypus, is a semiaquatic, egg-laying mammal endemic to eastern Australia, including Tasmania. The platypus is the sole living representative or monotypic taxon of its family Ornithorhynchidae and genus Ornithorhynchus, though a number of related species appear in the fossil record.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ornithorhynchidae</span> Family of monotremes

The Ornithorhynchidae are one of the two extant families in the order Monotremata, and contain the platypus and its extinct relatives. The other family is the Tachyglossidae, or echidnas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prototheria</span> Subclass of mammalia

Prototheria is an obsolete subclass of mammals which includes the living Monotremata and to which a variety of extinct groups, including Morganucodonta, Docodonta, Triconodonta and Multituberculata, have also been assigned. It is today no longer considered a valid grouping, but rather a paraphyletic evolutionary grade of basal mammals and mammaliaform cynodonts.

<i>Steropodon</i> Extinct genus of monotremes

Steropodon is a genus of prehistoric platypus-like monotreme, or egg-laying mammal. It contains a single species, Steropodon galmani, that lived about 100.2–96.6 million years ago during the Cretaceous period, from early to middle Cenomanian. It is one of the oldest monotremes discovered, and is one of the oldest Australian mammal discoveries. Several other monotremes are known from the Griman Creek Formation, including Dharragarra, Kollikodon, Opalios, Parvopalus, and Stirtodon.

Teinolophos is a prehistoric species of monotreme, or egg-laying mammal, from the Teinolophidae. It is known from four specimens, each consisting of a partial lower jawbone collected from the Wonthaggi Formation at Flat Rocks, Victoria, Australia. It lived during the late Barremian age of the Lower Cretaceous.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Long-beaked echidna</span> Genus of monotremes

The long-beaked echidnas make up one of the two extant genera of echidnas: there are three extant species, all living in New Guinea. They are medium-sized, solitary mammals covered with coarse hair and spines made of keratin. They have short, strong limbs with large claws, and are powerful diggers. They forage in leaf litter on the forest floor, eating earthworms and insects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Short-beaked echidna</span> Spiny furred egg-laying mammal from Australia

The short-beaked echidna, also called the short-nosed echidna, is one of four living species of echidna, and the only member of the genus Tachyglossus. It is covered in fur and spines and has a distinctive snout and a specialised tongue, which it uses to catch its insect prey at a great speed. Like the other extant monotremes, the short-beaked echidna lays eggs; the monotremes are the only living group of mammals to do so.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western long-beaked echidna</span> Species of monotreme

The western long-beaked echidna is one of the four extant echidnas and one of three species of Zaglossus that occurs in New Guinea. Originally described as Tachyglossus bruijnii, this is the type species of Zaglossus.

<i>Zaglossus attenboroughi</i> Species of monotreme

Zaglossus attenboroughi, also known as Attenborough's long-beaked echidna or locally as Payangko, is one of three species from the genus Zaglossus that inhabits the island of New Guinea. It lives in the Cyclops Mountains, which are near the cities of Sentani and Jayapura in the Indonesian province of Papua. It is named in honour of naturalist Sir David Attenborough.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eastern long-beaked echidna</span> Species of monotreme

The eastern long-beaked echidna, also known as Barton's long-beaked echidna, is one of three species from the genus Zaglossus to occur in New Guinea. It is found mainly in the eastern half at elevations between 2,000 and 3,000 metres.

The mammals of Australia have a rich fossil history, as well as a variety of extant mammalian species, dominated by the marsupials, but also including monotremes and placentals. The marsupials evolved to fill specific ecological niches, and in many cases they are physically similar to the placental mammals in Eurasia and North America that occupy similar niches, a phenomenon known as convergent evolution. For example, the top mammalian predators in Australia, the Tasmanian tiger and the marsupial lion, bore a striking resemblance to large canids such as the gray wolf and large cats respectively; gliding possums and flying squirrels have similar adaptations enabling their arboreal lifestyle; and the numbat and anteaters are both digging insectivores. Most of Australia's mammals are herbivores or omnivores.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fawn antechinus</span> Species of marsupial

The fawn antechinus is a species of small carnivorous marsupial found in northern Australia. It is the only Antechinus to be found in the Northern Territory and has a patchy, restricted range.

<i>Megalibgwilia</i> Extinct genus of monotremes

Megalibgwilia is a genus of echidna known only from Australian fossils that incorporates the oldest-known echidna species. The genus ranged from the Pliocene until the late Pleistocene, becoming extinct about 50,000 years ago. Megalibgwilia species were more widespread in warmer and moist climates. Their extinction can be attributed to increasing aridification in Southern Australia.

<i>Murrayglossus</i> Extinct species of monotreme

Murrayglossus is an extinct echidna from the Pleistocene of Western Australia. It contains a single species, Murrayglossus hacketti, also called Hackett's giant echidna. Though only from a few bones, researchers suggest that Murrayglossus was the largest monotreme to have ever lived, measuring around 1 metre (3.3 ft) long and weighing around 20–30 kilograms (44–66 lb). Historically treated as a species of long-beaked echidnas, it was separated into its own genus Murrayglossus in 2022. The generic name combines the last name of paleontologist Peter Murray and glossus, the Greek word for "tongue".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monotreme</span> Order of egg-laying mammals

Monotremes are mammals of the order Monotremata. They are the only group of living mammals that lay eggs, rather than bearing live young. The extant monotreme species are the platypus and the four species of echidnas. Monotremes are typified by structural differences in their brains, jaws, digestive tract, reproductive tract, and other body parts, compared to the more common mammalian types. Although they are different from almost all mammals in that they lay eggs, like all mammals, the female monotremes nurse their young with milk.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yinotheria</span> Subclass of mammals

Yinotheria is a proposed basal subclass clade of crown mammals uniting the Shuotheriidae, an extinct group of mammals from the Jurassic of Eurasia, with Australosphenida, a group of mammals known from the Jurassic to Cretaceous of Gondwana, which possibly include living monotremes. Today, there are only five surviving species of monotremes which live in Australia and New Guinea, consisting of the platypus and four species of echidna. Fossils of yinotheres have been found in Britain, China, Russia, Madagascar and Argentina. Contrary to other known crown mammals, they retained postdentary bones as shown by the presence of a postdentary trough. The extant members (monotremes) developed the mammalian middle ear independently.

Marsupionta is a hypothetical clade of mammals containing marsupials and monotremes, but not the placentals. This hypothesis is contrary to the conventional view that marsupials and placentals form a clade (Theria) that excludes monotremes. Marsupionta was proposed in 1947 by the American zoologist William King Gregory and has since been the subject of multiple studies.

The monotremes represent the order of extant mammals most distantly related to humans. The platypus is indigenous to eastern Australia; the short-beaked echidna is indigenous to Australia and Papua New Guinea; whereas the long-beaked echidna is restricted to Papua New Guinea and Irian Jaya. Since monotremes exhibit characteristics common with both reptiles and therian mammals, they are of great interest for the study of mammalian evolution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ornithorhynchoidea</span> Superfamily of monotreme mammals

Ornithorhynchoidea is a superfamily of mammals containing the only living monotremes, the platypus and the echidnas, as well as their closest fossil relatives, to the exclusion of more primitive fossil monotremes of uncertain affinity.

References

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  40. ↑ Garde, Murray. "ngarrbek". Bininj Kunwok Online Dictionary. Bininj Kunwok Regional Language Centre. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
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  44. ↑ Sydney 2000: The Mascot – Olympics.com. Retrieved June 4, 2022.
  45. ↑ Simon, Matt (19 June 2015). "Absurd Creature of the Week: Forget the Platypus. The Echidna Is the True Champ of Weird". Wired.

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