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 family Tachyglossidae consists of two genera of echidnas, Tachyglossus and Zaglossus. Echidnas share the order Monotremata with platypuses, as these are the only extant egg-laying mammals. The genus Tachyglossus defines the species of short-beaked echidnas while Zaglossus is composed of the long-beaked echidnas. The family has similar ...

2025年1月15日 · echidna, (family Tachyglossidae), any of four species of peculiar egg-laying mammals from Australia, Tasmania, and New Guinea that eat and breathe through a bald tubular beak protruding from a dome-shaped body covered in spines.

Echidnas (/ɪˈkɪdnə/), sometimes known as spiny anteaters, belong to the family Tachyglossidae in the monotreme order of egg-laying mammals. The four extant species, together with the platypus, are the only surviving members of the order Monotremata …

The taxonomic family name for echidnas, Tachyglossidae, means “fast tongue.” Both male and female echidnas have a pouch on the belly, making it difficult to tell one from the other. The echidna’s snout is very sensitive to touch and can feel vibrations.

Tachyglossus, the short-beaked echidna, consists of one species, T. aculeatus, and five subspecies. Zaglossus, the long-beaked echidna, has three species, with four subspecies of Z. bartoni. Zaglossus taxonomy is based on world museum collections. Together with the platypus, echidnas are the world's only monotremes, or egg-laying mammals.

2024年12月20日 · Echidnas, also known as spiny anteaters, are medium-sized mammals with hard, spiny hair or quills on their body. Although they resemble hedgehogs (family Erinaceidae) and porcupines (families Hystricidae and Erethizontidae) in appearance, echidnas constitute a separate family, Tachyglossidae.

Echidnas (ih-KID-nahz), also called spiny anteaters, are solidly built, short-legged, shuffling mammals that can grow fairly large, up to 14 pounds (6.5 kilograms) for the short-beaked (or short-nosed) echidna and up to 20 pounds (9 kilograms) for the long-beaked (or long-nosed).

The short-beaked echidna is the only member of its genus, [9] sharing the family Tachyglossidae with the extant species of the genus Zaglossus that occur in New Guinea. [10]

2018年6月1日 · The Tachyglossidae is represented by two extant monotypic genera: Zaglossus bruijni, the long-beaked echidna, and Tachyglossus aculeatus, the common echidna, or spiny anteater. Zaglossus is endemic to the mountains of New Guinea and feeds primarily on earthworms and arthropods, while Tachyglossus has a distribution across much of Australasia ...