Short-billed hedgehog

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Short-billed hedgehog
Short-billed hedgehog (Tachyglossus aculeatus)

Short-billed hedgehog ( Tachyglossus aculeatus )

Systematics
Class : Mammals (mammalia)
Subclass : Ursammal (Protheria)
Order : Monotremes (monotremes)
Family : Echidna (Tachyglossidae)
Genre : Tachyglossus
Type : Short-billed hedgehog
Scientific name of the  genus
Tachyglossus
Illiger , 1811
Scientific name of the  species
Tachyglossus aculeatus
( Shaw , 1792)

The short-beaked urchin , also short-beaked ant urchin ( Tachyglossus aculeatus ) is an egg-laying mammal from the order of monotons and the family of the ant urchins (Tachyglossidae). He inhabits large parts of Australia and southeastern New Guinea .

description

Right front paw with the characteristic five grave claws

Short-billed hedgehogs reach a head body length of 35 to 53 centimeters and a weight of 2.5 to 7 kilograms. The most striking features are the yellow or yellow-black spines on the back and on the flanks, which are reminiscent of the - unrelated - hedgehogs , as well as the long, tubular snout. The rest of the fur is brownish in color and can partially cover the spines. It can be easily distinguished from other ant urchins by the number of grave claws on its paws, the short-billed urchin has five claws.

behavior

Curled up short-billed hedgehog

These animals inhabit a large number of habitats and are mainly active at twilight, outside of the mating season they are solitary. Their food consists almost exclusively of ants and termites, which they ingest with their long, sticky tongue and chop up with horn plates on the tongue and roof of the mouth - they are toothless.

After a complicated foreplay, mating occurs in July or August. Around three to four weeks later, the female lays, rarely two or three eggs, which are incubated for another ten days in a specially designed bag on the belly. After hatching, the young will stay in the mother's pouch for around eight weeks. As soon as its spines grow - around eight weeks old - it leaves it and is hidden in a safe place and suckled regularly until it is around seven months old.

Short-billed hedgehogs can live to be 50 years old in human care. Today (December 2016) short-billed hedgehogs are only kept in Duisburg, Frankfurt and Rockenhausen in Germany.

Distribution area of ​​the short-billed hedgehog

Short-billed hedgehogs are among the most widespread native Australian mammals, as they are undemanding in terms of their habitat and, with their spines, offer good protection against predators.

A total of six subspecies are distinguished:

The subspecies on Tasmania is sometimes thought of as a distinct species.

For detailed information, see the article Echidna .

supporting documents

  1. ↑ [1] on Zootierliste.de; accessed on December 6, 2016

Remarks

  1. ↑ The Southwest Australian short-billed urchin is not recognized worldwide due to “only” small differences to the Northwest Australian short-billed urchin.
  2. ↑ The Tasmanian short-billed hedgehog is often viewed as a separate species.

Web links

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Wiktionary: Kurzschnabeligel  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations