Short-beaked Echidna
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Ellura
Short-beaked Echidna
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Short-beaked Echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus)Class: Animals (Animalia) - Chordates (Chordata) - Mammals (Mammalia)
Order: Egg Laying Mammals (Monotremata)
Family: Echidna (Tachyglossidae)     iNaturalist Observation
Species: Short-beaked Echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus)
This Photo:     🔍Profile🔎

Thank you Ian Castle, Russell Palmer (Dog_Walker232) & Jane Widness for confirming the id of this species for us

General Species Information:
Found on Ellura (in the Murray Mallee, SA), the Adelaide Hills, the Riverland and elsewhere
Covered in sharp spines. In defence will wedge themselves under bushes (in this case rocks) or, if out in the open, dig themselves down by pushing soil out the side.
Their spines are dark grey and light brown.
All Australian echidnas are short-beaked. The long-beaked species are in New Guinea.
Russell Palmer said: "Dr Rismiller and Dr Grutzner from South Australia are very clear in their statement in their recent review of the taxa published in 2019. Page 76 "It is recognized that subspecies designations are unclear and revision is needed"". So we lifted our id to species level.

Copyright © 2013-2024 Brett & Marie Smith. All Rights Reserved. Photographed 19-May-2013
This species is classed as LC (Least Concern) in the Murray Mallee, SA, by DENR (Regional Species Status Assessments, July 2010)