Short-billed hedgehog
Short-billed hedgehog | ||||||||||||
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Short-billed hedgehog ( Tachyglossus aculeatus ) |
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Systematics | ||||||||||||
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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
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
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.
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:
- Southeast Australian short-billed hedgehog ( T. a. Aculeatus ) in southeastern Australia (coastal regions, mountain slopes of southern Queensland , New South Wales , Victoria and South Australia )
- Northwest Australian short-billed hedgehog ( T. a. Acanthion ) in Northwest Australia ( Northern Territory and Western Australia )
- Southwest Australian short-billed hedgehog ( T. a. Ineptus ) in southwest Australia ( Shire of Yilgarn )
- Kangaroo Island Short-billed Hedgehog ( T. a. Multiaculeatus ) on Kangaroo Island
- New Guinea short-billed hedgehog ( T. a. Lawesii ) on New Guinea and larger islands of Papua New Guinea
- Tasmanian short-billed hedgehog ( T. a. Setosus ) on Tasmania and some islands in the Bass Strait
The subspecies on Tasmania is sometimes thought of as a distinct species.
For detailed information, see the article Echidna .
supporting documents
Remarks
- ↑ The Southwest Australian short-billed urchin is not recognized worldwide due to “only” small differences to the Northwest Australian short-billed urchin.
- ↑ The Tasmanian short-billed hedgehog is often viewed as a separate species.
Web links
- Tachyglossus aculeatus in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2008 Posted by: K. Aplin, C. Dickman, L. Salas, K. slipway, 2008. Accessed January 2 of 2009.
- Video: Tachyglossus aculeatus (Shaw and Nodder) - running . Institute for Scientific Film (IWF) 1954, made available by the Technical Information Library (TIB), doi : 10.3203 / IWF / E-21 .
- Video: Tachyglossus aculeatus (Shaw and Nodder) - burrow . Institute for Scientific Film (IWF) 1954, made available by the Technical Information Library (TIB), doi : 10.3203 / IWF / E-22 .