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. When swimming, they expose their snout and some of their spines, and are known to journey to water in order to groom and bathe themselves. At 33 ☌, the echidna also possesses the second-lowest active body temperature of all mammals, behind the platypus.ĭespite their appearance, echidnas are capable swimmers, as they evolved from platypus-like ancestors. The external ear is created by a large cartilaginous funnel, deep in the muscle. The ears are slits on the sides of their heads that are usually unseen, as they are blanketed by their spines. The echidna feeds by tearing open soft logs, anthills and the like, and using its long, sticky tongue, which protrudes from its snout, to collect prey. Echidnas have tiny mouths and toothless jaws. Their claws on their hind limbs are elongated and curved backwards to aid in digging. Įchidnas have short, strong limbs with large claws, and are powerful diggers. Echidnas use their electroreceptive beaks to sense earthworms, termites, ants, and other burrowing prey. The short-beaked echidna, which lives in a drier environment, has no more than 400 at the tip of its snout. Like the platypus, they are equipped with electrosensors, but while the platypus has 40,000 electroreceptors on its bill, the long-beaked echidna has only 2,000. They have elongated and slender snouts that function as both mouth and nose. There have been several reports of albino echidnas, their eyes pink and their spines white. They are usually black or brown in coloration. Journal of Venomous Animals and Toxins including Tropical Diseases, 19(1), 21.Superficially, they resemble the anteaters of South America and other spiny mammals such as hedgehogs and porcupines. Mad, bad and dangerous to know: the biochemistry, ecology and evolution of slow loris venom. Poisonous platypuses confirm convergent evolution. An utter odd ball: a platypus spotted in a Tasmanian creek. Who would have thought the combination of a duck bill and beaver tail could prove so successful? The platypus really is one unusual animal. So despite its adorable, odd-ball appearance, the platypus really packs a punch. One man who was jabbed on the finger had pain in the area up to four months later! In humans it causes instant and excruciating pain that can’t be relieved by morphine and other first aid methods. In the spring breeding season the male’s venom glands swell and produce more venom, and you definitely don’t want to receive a dose of it. This just means they produce venom differently at different times of the year. Venomous mammals are rare enough – beside the platypus there are perhaps only seven other species, but the platypus is also the only known animal to exhibit temporally differential venom production. Platypus males have another secret weapon too, a highly potent venomous spur found on each of their hind legs. In the platypus male the left head of the penis is the one that is larger and more exaggerated, supposedly helping to better target the egg producing ovary. The females have two ovaries but only the left is functional and produces eggs. Australian National University, Canberra.Īs you can see above, the platypus penis is quite specialised! While its shape and structures are still not fully understood, scientists have noticed it nicely reflects what’s going on inside the female platypus. Both lay eggs, both have a single opening for all their waste stuff and sex stuff, both walk like reptiles (as explained in my echidna post), and both have multi-headed penises… Photo source: Temple-Smith, P., (1973) Seasonal breeding in the platypus, with special reference to the male. It’s the echidna! While not physically very similar looking, functionally they are. So despite the platypus’s duck-like bill and beaver-like tail, its closest relative isn’t either of these. In these odd organisms, the males actually have a double headed penis and a highly venomous spur. A quick recap: monotremes are the egg laying mammals and there are only three species – two types of echidna and a single species of platypus found only in Australia. I wrote about the echidna in an earlier post and thought it only fair to write one for that other equally odd Australian monotreme – the platypus.
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