Short-beaked Echidna

Also known as Common Echidna, Short-Nosed Echidna

Covered in a dense coat of tough keratin spines interspersed with insulating fur, short-beaked echidnas are solitary monotremes adapted to nearly every Australian habitat. They use a sticky, rapid-fire tongue and acute scent perception to extract thousands of ants and termites from soil or decaying logs each day. When threatened, these robust diggers quickly burrow straight downward or curl into an impenetrable spiky ball.