Short-beaked Echidna
Tachyglossus aculeatus
Short-beaked Echidna: Australia's Spiny Egg-Laying Mammal
The short-beaked echidna is a spiny, toothless mammal that lays eggs. Found almost everywhere in Australia and in southern New Guinea, it rips open ant and termite nests with strong claws and, when threatened, digs straight down until only its spines show.
- Habitat
- Forests, woodlands, heath, grasslands and deserts
- Size
- 30-45 cm long, 2-7 kg
- Diet
- Mostly ants and termites, plus other invertebrates
- Range
- All of Australia including Tasmania, plus southern New Guinea
- Conservation
- Least Concern (IUCN), population stable
- Group
- Monotreme (egg-laying mammal), like the platypus
Habitat & range
The short-beaked echidna is the only echidna in Australia and is found throughout the country, including Tasmania, in forests and woodlands, heath, grasslands and arid areas (Australian Museum). It also lives in southern and eastern New Guinea and ranges from sea level to at least 1,675 m (Animal Diversity Web). It is one of only five living egg-laying mammals, or monotremes: four echidna species and the platypus (San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance). The IUCN lists it as Least Concern with a stable population, though it is overhunted for food in parts of New Guinea and many are killed on roads (IUCN Red List; Animal Diversity Web).
Diet & hunting
Echidnas have no teeth. They break into ant and termite nests with their pointed snout and sharp claws, then flick a long sticky tongue in and out to catch the insects (Australian Museum). Hard pads at the back of the mouth grind the food into a paste (San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance). A lot of soil gets swallowed along with the ants, so much of an echidna's dung is dirt (Animal Diversity Web). The small pits it digs while foraging trap leaves and water and help keep soil healthy in dry woodland (Animal Diversity Web).
Spines & defence
The cream-coloured spines, up to about 5 cm long, are made of keratin, with fur growing between them for warmth (Australian Wildlife Conservancy). They are a tough, enlarged form of hair (Department for Environment and Water, South Australia). When danger comes, an echidna can run, curl into a spiky ball, or dig straight down until only its spiny back is showing, which makes it almost impossible to pull out (San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance). Long, backward-curved claws on the hind feet are used to groom between the spines (Australian Wildlife Conservancy).
Eggs & puggles
A female lays a single soft-shelled egg into a pouch on her belly about 23 days after mating, and it hatches 10 or 11 days later (Animal Diversity Web). The newly hatched young, called a puggle, is smaller than a jelly bean and laps milk from special patches in the pouch, because echidnas have no nipples (San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance). Once its spines start to grow and it gets too prickly, the mother moves it to a burrow, where it keeps suckling for about another six months (Australian Museum).
Fun facts about Short-beaked Echidna
- The echidna family name, Tachyglossidae, means fast tongue (San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance).
- A newly hatched puggle weighs about half a gram (San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance).
- Echidnas have no ear flaps, just slits behind the eyes, yet hear very well (San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance).
- During hibernation an echidna's body can cool to 8-10 degrees C (Animal Diversity Web).
- Despite short legs, echidnas are good swimmers and can climb trees (San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance).
Short-beaked Echidna vs Platypus
The echidna wins on defence: the platypus can't get past the spines.
These two are cousins, the only egg-laying mammals alive, and both live in eastern Australia, though the platypus stays in rivers and streams and the echidna on land (Australian Museum). In a made-up showdown, the male platypus brings the only venom of any Australian mammal: a sharp spur about 12 mm long on each ankle (Australian Museum). The echidna simply refuses to fight. It curls into a ball or digs in until only spines show (San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance), and a platypus, which struggles on land and uses almost 30% more energy walking than a similar land mammal (Australian Museum), has nothing to grab. Our verdict: the echidna wins by outlasting it.
Read more about Platypus.
Common questions about Short-beaked Echidna
Is an echidna a type of hedgehog or porcupine?
No. Echidnas are monotremes, egg-laying mammals that share their own order only with the platypus (Australian Museum), while hedgehogs and porcupines give birth to live young. Their spines just look similar: an echidna's spines are a tough, enlarged form of hair made of keratin (Department for Environment and Water, SA).
How long do short-beaked echidnas live?
A very long time for their size. The record is 50 years in captivity, and there are anecdotal reports of wild echidnas reaching 45, about 3.7 times longer than expected for a mammal of their size (Animal Diversity Web). Their low metabolic rate is thought to be part of the reason.
Can echidnas sense electricity like a platypus?
Yes, but only weakly. The short-beaked echidna has about 400 electroreceptors at the tip of its snout, compared with about 40,000 in the platypus bill (Pettigrew 1999, Journal of Experimental Biology). Researchers think it is a leftover sense in this dry-country animal, perhaps useful in moist soil (AMNH). Read more in our platypus electroreception piece.
What is an echidna train?
It's a line of males following one female during the breeding season, roughly June to August. Courtship can last from a few days to several weeks, and in the end the female mates with only one male per season (Animal Diversity Web).
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