echidna journeys

The name echidna orginates from the Greek goddess Ekhidna who was believed to be half reptile and half mammal, with the face of a woman but the body of a serpent. Echidnas are monotremes, they lay shell covered eggs that hatch outside the mothers body. They have only a single passage, the cloaca, for both excretion and reproduction. The Short-beaked Echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus) is common throughout most of temperate Australia and lowland New Guinea. It is one of four living species of echidna and the