Species Fact Profile: Short-Beaked Echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus)

                                                               Short-Beaked Echidna

Tachyglossus aculeatus (Shaw, 1792)

Range: Southern and Eastern New Guinea, Australia (including Tasmania)

Habitat: Lowland Rainforest, Open Woodland, Savanna, Semi-Arid Scrub

Diet: Ants, Termites, and other Invertebrates

Social Grouping: Solitary, not territorial.  Overlapping home ranges

Reproduction:  Breed in Australian winter.  Both sexes give off a musky odor to attract a mate.  13 days after mating, female lays a single, soft-shelled egg in her pouch, which hatches after 10-11 days.  The young ("puggle") weans at about 3 months, then leaves the pouch, covered with spines  Adult size reached at 3-5 years old

Lifespan: 40-50 Years

Conservation Status: IUCN Least Concern

• Body length 30-45 centimeters, weigh 2-7 kilograms.   The neck is not externally visible, making the head to appear merged with the body.  The eyes are small, the snout about 7.5 centimeters in length.  The nostrils and mouth are at the end of the snout, which can open no wide than 0.5 centimeters.  Limbs are short and stout, adapted for rapid digging
• Fur is dark reddish-brown.  Most of the body – apart from the underside, face, and legs – is covered with cream-colored spines.  Fur is interspersed between the spines
• Becomes very sluggish in very hot or cold weather.  Body temperature may fall as low as 5 degrees Celsius.  Does not pant or sweat, seeks shelter in hot weather.  Loses lots of water in hot weather.  In Australian autumn and winter, enters a period of torpor or deep hibernation
• Multiple males (up to 10) may follow a female, creating “echidna trains,” though the female will only mate with one male per season.  Pairs mate by lying in a small crater they dig, letting them out their soft underbellies together (females can reject males by rolling into balls).
• Few significant predators, though they may be taken by dingoes, goannas, raptors, Tasmanian devils, and introduced mammals (cats, pigs).  Juveniles are more susceptible to predation that adults.  Protect themselves by burrowing until only the spiny back is exposed.
• Scientific name translates to "Quick Tongued, Equipped with Spines"
• Five subspecies: the nominate (much of mainland Australia), T. a. acanthion (Northern Territory and Western Australia), T. a lawesii (New Guinea, possibly northeast Queensland), T. a. multiaculeatus (Kangaroo Island), and T. a. setosus (Tasmania, islands of the Bass Strait).  Subspecies vary in size, hairiness, and the size of their spines and claws
• Major human-caused mortalities are vehicle collisions, hunting for food, and habitat loss  Tolerant of some agriculture and deforestation as long as there are still insects to forage on
• Has been a totem for many cultures throughout Australia and New Guinea  Was once protected from hunters in New Guinea by cultural taboo, but as local peoples have become more westernized, that protection has faded and the species has been faced with more hunting pressure