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 Shortbeaked 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