Apparently echidnas have amazing tongues that can stiffen and smash into wood and soil in search of ants, worms, termites, and insects.

And yet their tongues are also dexterous and bendy to turn back and wind around the labyrinths of nests.

Mysteriously, they don't get splinters from this?

What strange and wonderful creatures.

If you see one, be sure to mention it!

#echidna #MonotremesOfMastodon

I've been learning about echidnas.

Echidnas are the only mammals with actual beaks. And the only ones that can dig straight down. Their back feet face backwards. Echidnas form temporary pouches for babies that go away later. They have no teats.

A baby echidna is called a "puggle".

And yet it turns out we know relatively little about these elusive critters compared to other Aussie treasures. We don't know much about their diet, habitat, reproduction, and so on. We don't really know for sure where they are and how abundant they are.

But you can help! Share every echidna sighting you can! Building a baseline on the population is the first step. And tell your local council about any echidna road incidents.

If you live in Qld, be sure to bookmark the EchidnaWatch sighting form below or download iNaturalist to join the echidna detectives project.

https://wildlife.org.au/our-work/conservation-programs/echidnawatch/

#echidna #MonotremesOfMastodon #Queensland

RE: https://mastodon.social/@joyousjoyness/116683231537832868

#FunFact : A baby #Echidna is called a puggle.

🤓 🦉 ✨

Detox Doodles!

These animals are from my 100-day journey to swap scrolling for sketching: https://www.joyousjoyness.com/pages/detox-doodles

This page is about Echidnas!

#art #echidna #australia #sketch #DetoxDoodles #sciart #InkArt

RE: https://aus.social/@dgar/116594513978852062

Australia has the coolest and weirdest of fascinating animals. Love echidnas, terrifying the ant populations of our Great Southern Land, and their shuffling movements.
The photo in the comments below of a particularly adorable unit 🥰
#echidna