With its bristling spines and long, pointed snout, the echidna, or "spiny anteater", is found across most of Australia. Solitary by nature, the echidna lives in an underground burrow, using its long, sticky tongue- which it can extend up to 18 centimeters-to feed on ants and termites. Along with the platypus, the echidna belongs to one of the rarest and most bizarre animal subclasses in the world, the monotremes, or egg-laying mammals.
After mating, the female echidna lays a single egg which she carries in a pouch on her belly. After 10 days the egg hatches, with the baby echidna remaining in its mother's pouch until it is six weeks old. After emerging from the pouch the baby stays with its mother until it can survive in the bush alone.
