Family TACHYGLOSSIDAE
Compiler and date details
2010 - Stephen M. Jackson, c/- Queensland Museum, Brisbane, Queensland
31 December 1998 - J.A. Mahoney (1988); updated by Barry J. Richardson (1999), Centre for Biostructural and Biomolecular Research, University of Western Sydney, Hawkesbury, NSW, Australia
Introduction
This family includes two extant genera. Although both species occur in New Guinea, only one is found in Australia. The body of the echidna is covered with thick hair interspersed with sharply pointed spines. The legs are short and all digits are equipped with strong claws; those of the manus are spatulate. The snout is elongated, naked and the two nostrils are located on the antero-dorsal end. The eyes are small and directed anteriorly. The jaws lack teeth, the mouth is small and the tongue is long and narrow. The diet is insectivorous, composed largely of ants and termites.
Echidnas are solitary. Although they are powerful diggers, they do not burrow in the conventional head-first manner, but rather "sink" into the soil. A single egg is laid, probably directly into the pouch. Testes are internal and there is a single orifice for the passage of eggs and waste products.
General References
Augee, M. & Gooden, B. 1993. Echidnas of Australia and New Guinea. Kensington : University of NSW Press 76 pp.
Augee, M.L. (ed.) 1992. Platypus and Echidnas. Mosman : Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales 296 pp.
Griffiths, M. 1968. Echidnas. Oxford : Pergamon Press x 282 pp.
Griffiths, M. 1978. The Biology of the Monotremes. New York : Academic Press x 367 pp.
Griffiths, M. 1989. Tachyglossidae. pp. 407-435 in Walton, D.W. & Richardson, B.J. (eds). Fauna of Australia. Mammalia. Canberra : Australian Government Publishing Service Vol. 1B 827 pp.