| Brief Description |
The short-beaked echidna is the most common of the four echidna species, and is found thoughout Australia and parts of New Guinea. It is a monotreme, like the platypus, and so one of the few mammals that lays eggs. It burrows quickly, and forages in rotten logs for ants and termites, which it can detect with electroreceptors on its snout.
Registered originally with the archaic name "Porcupine anteater", this fully mounted specimen had a tyvek label attached noting "Acquired by exchange with Adelaide Museum 1890" and is therefore is identified as part of the original S H Drew collection.
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