Short-beaked echidna

Tachyglossus aculeatus · Tachyglossidae

The short-beaked echidna, also known as the common echidna, or short-nosed echidna, is one of four living species of echidna, and the only member of the genus Tachyglossus, from Ancient Greek ταχύς, meaning "fast", and γλῶσσα, meaning "tongue". It is covered in fur and spines and has a distinctive snout and a specialised tongue, which it uses to catch its insect prey at a great speed. Like the other extant monotremes, the short-beaked echidna lays eggs; the monotremes are the only living group of mammals to do so.

Where the Short-beaked echidna lives

Recorded in Ashmore and Cartier Is. (Oceania).

Most records fall in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Tasmania, Western Australia and South Australia.

See the Short-beaked echidna’s range on the globe

Conservation status

Least concern (LC). Not at risk: it is doing well in the wild. Categories are the IUCN Red List as republished by GBIF.

Sources

The range is a density of 107,910 georeferenced GBIF records, not an expert-drawn map. Description from Wikipedia.