Latest posts tagged with #echidnas on Bluesky
Part of an ancient group of egg-laying monotreme #mammals, Attenborough Long-Beaked #Echidnas of #WestPapua are critically endangered. Fight for their survival when you shop and #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife wp.me/pcFhgU-7Qj
This gorgeous ball of spikes graced our presence yesterday, happily snuffling around the yard. #echidnas #australianwildlife
A side view of an echidna - a brown, spiky rounded animal the size and shape of a loaf of bread, with a long naked pointy snout sticking horizontally from its almost-flat face
Not many animals are the shape of an #echidna, which is a shame.
#Tasmania #MammalWatching #WildOz #echidnas
Part of an ancient group of egg-laying monotreme #mammals, Attenborough Long-Beaked #Echidnas of #WestPapua are critically endangered. Fight for their survival when you shop and #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect.bsky.social wp.me/pcFhgU-7Qj
For folks living near bushland, a reminder to be careful of random echidna burrows.
For everyone else, a link to a video of two puggles (baby echidnas) being looked after by wildlife carers.
#Puggles #Echidnas #Wildlife #Australia
Saw lots of these in Oz... Short-beaked Echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus) aka Spiny Anteater. That nose is not flexible. Rigid right to the end which helps digging into the soil for ants and grubs. One of only five mammals that lays eggs. #WildAustralia #echidnas
WILDLIFE VIDEO (3 min.)
"Cute echidnas keep cool... by blowing SNOT BUBBLES 😲."
🦔🫧 #Echidnas #WildlifeVideo #BBC #Mammals #Nature #Biology #AmazingCritters
Everybody loves #Echidna Taxidermy Fails!
In #PlatypusMatters, I make the case that no species are more often inaccurately depicted in #taxidermy as #echidnas are.
Part of an ancient group of egg-laying monotreme #mammals, Attenborough Long-Beaked #Echidnas of #WestPapua are critically endangered. Fight for their survival when you shop and #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife via @palmoildetect wp.me/pcFhgU-7Qj
It's always exciting to do the final #coverreveal of a new #book, but this one is a real corker. I think it really captures the essence of the book, and #echidnas. With many thanks to WA #wildlife artist #CatherineScartaccini for permission to use her beautiful #drawing.#wildlifeart #naturewriting
Echidna or Spiny Anteater (Tachyglossus aculeatus)... one of the few egg-laying mammals. #WildAustralia #echidnas
The cover of PlatypusMatters: The Extraordinary Story of Australian Mammals by Jack Ashby. The image shows a platypus diving
A screenshot of a page of the book. It reads: "Shaw dithered about where they should be placed taxonom-ically, suggesting that a new genus may need to be created for them, but in the end decided to lump them in the same group – Myrmecophaga – as South America’s giant anteaters. He gave them the common name ‘porcupine ant- eater’, and they have otherwise become known as the ‘spiny anteater’, ‘Australian porcupine’ and ‘New Holland hedgehog’.* Over the years they were subsequently put in the same genus as porcupines and then platypuses, but eventually taxonomists followed Shaw’s original notion and gave them a name of their own. The one we have settled on is Tachyglossus, meaning ‘swift tongue’, with the species name aculeatus, or ‘prickly’. This is perfectly descriptive – echidna tongues can flick out 100 times in a minute in search of their insect prey.One of the strangest, most surprising and most fondly remembered social experiences of my life took place in the tiny township of Adventure Bay, on Bruny Island, off Tasmania’s south coast. Toby and I were there for the island’s incredible wildlife – particularly the abundant echidnas. We spent a couple of weeks sleeping in our car – a minuscule, ancient bright- yellow Holden Gemini – in the empty beach parking lot overlooking the Southern Ocean (it was, without exaggeration, * The etymology of the word echidna is an interesting one, as ékhidna in Ancient Greek means ‘viper’. The word ekhînos, meaning ‘hedgehog’ (or, if Latinised to echinus, also ‘sea urchin’), would make much more sense, but that doesn’t explain where the ‘d’ came from"
Want to know more about how #echidnas got their European names? Here's part of that story from my book #PlatypusMatters: The Extraordinary Story of Australian Mammals (the bit about why we can't explain that echidnas appear to have been named after vipers is in the footnote).
A preserved eel in a long tall jar. The specimen is evenly patched with black and brown. The label below reads: "Echidna nebuliser (Ahl) Netzmürane Pazifik" (On display at the Natural History Museum in Vienna)
A wild echidna - a dark brown spiny animal with a pointy anteating snout - stood amongst grass and ferns
What does a snowflake moray eel have in common with an adorable egg-laying, anteating Australian mammal?
They are both #echidnas! The scientific name of the eel is #Echidna. Ékhidna means "viper" in Ancient Greek, which makes sense for a snake-shaped fish, but is more confusing for the mammal.
Eastern Long-beaked #Echidnas are rare egg-laying #mammals 🥚🦔 They are a prehistoric fever dream with a tube-like beak and hedgehog like spines. Help them survive in #NewGuinea 🇵🇬 when you #BoycottPalmOil 🌴🪔🤮🙊🚫 #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect.bsky.social palmoildetectives.com/2021/02/03/e...
Part of an ancient group of egg-laying monotreme #mammals, Attenborough Long-Beaked #Echidnas of #WestPapua are critically endangered. Fight for their survival when you shop and #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife via @palmoildetect wp.me/pcFhgU-7Qj
Two of #Tasmania's animals foraging: while I was busy watching an #echidna (and she was busy watching me), a currawong snuck up and started investigating my bag in search of snacks (these guys know all about human bags: they can undo zips and buckles).
#MammalWatching #WildOz #echidnas #OzBirds
An #echidna working hard at finding insects in the hail and sleet.
#Tasmania #MammalWatching #WildOz #echidnas
Part of an ancient group of egg-laying monotreme #mammals, Attenborough Long-Beaked #Echidnas of #WestPapua are critically endangered. Fight for their survival when you shop and #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect.bsky.social wp.me/pcFhgU-7Qj
A list of trips handwritten in the front of a birding field guide. The most recent is No. 21, listing locations in Tasmania and Sydney
An echidna in grass and ferns
A wombat on grass with a stream behind
A selfie of Jack Ashby in a snowy mountain scene
Thanks for having back me, Australia! Trip No. 21 was a busy one - met a bunch of #wombats and #echidnas, waded through a lot of snow, gave a few talks, caught up with some dear buddies, and generally felt awestruck ince again by the world's best wildlife 🤩
Part of an ancient group of egg-laying monotreme #mammals, Attenborough Long-Beaked #Echidnas of #WestPapua are critically endangered. Fight for their survival when you shop and #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect.bsky.social wp.me/pcFhgU-7Qj
An #echidna showing off its many excellent features:
🐜Long ant-eating, electro-receptive snout.
♠️Massive digging feet.
🌵Anti-predator spines.
💅 Huge backward-pointing hind-claws, to scratch in between their spines.
🧥Thick fur coat to survive winter in #Tasmania.
#MammalWatching #WildOz #echidnas
Spot the leech on this #echidna.
Spines work great against predators, but they're not much use against parasites. 🪱
#Tasmania #MammalWatching #WildOz #echidnas
Part of an ancient group of egg-laying monotreme #mammals, Attenborough Long-Beaked #Echidnas of #WestPapua are critically endangered. Fight for their survival when you shop and #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect.bsky.social wp.me/pcFhgU-7Qj
Eastern Long-beaked #Echidnas are rare egg-laying #mammals 🥚🦔 They are a prehistoric fever dream with a tube-like beak and hedgehog like spines. Help them survive in #NewGuinea 🇵🇬 when you #BoycottPalmOil 🌴🪔🤮🙊🚫 #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect.bsky.social palmoildetectives.com/2021/02/03/e...
Two very furry Tasmanian highland echidnas shelter together, head to head, noses stuffed into some scraggly looking rushes.
Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife sign with a photo of a coiled, black Tiger Snake, advising Caution when in the area to passersby.
How do we feel about the old bit of Tasmanian bush wisdom "When the echidnas are out, the snakes are out"? 🐍🦔
Especially keen to hear opinions from either snake or echidna researchers on this one - if you can identify yourself as such, that would be fabulous!🐍🦔
#snakes #echidnas #dangernoodles
Eastern Long-beaked #Echidnas are the oldest mammals on earth. They're #vulnerable in #PapuaNewGuinea 🇵🇬 due to #mining and #palmoil #deforestation. Say NO to their #extinction 🌴🔥💀🙊⛔️ #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect.bsky.social palmoildetectives.com/2021/02/03/e...
