#0221 · 🦊 mammals
Short-beaked Echidna
🇳🇱 Australische Mierenegel ·Tachyglossus aculeatus
📍 Waterhouse TAS 7262, Australia
📍 Hobart TAS, Australia
📍 Royal National Park, Royal National Park, NSW, AU
📍 Leeka TAS 7255, Australia
10 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences
- 1. © deborod · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 2. © anitathamm · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 3. © Faunaverse · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 4. © Blue Derby Wild · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 5. © Nicola Baines · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 6. © danforster · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 7. Waterhouse TAS 7262, Australia:© John Sear · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 8. Hobart TAS, Australia:© elizamt · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 9. Royal National Park, Royal National Park, NSW, AU:© guanocrazy · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 10. Leeka TAS 7255, Australia:© deboraht · CC BY-NC 4.0
what is it?
The short-beaked echidna ( Tachyglossus aculeatus ) is one of four living species of echidna and the only member of the genus Tachyglossus . It is covered in fur and spines and has a distinctive snout and a specialized tongue, which it uses to catch its insect prey at a great speed. Like the other extant monotremes, the short-beaked echidna lays eggs; the monotremes are the only group of mammals to do so.
base stats
Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).
fun facts
- No confirmed wild sightings in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: you'd have to travel for this one.
- 26,018 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
- Scientifically named by George Shaw in 1792 (234 years ago).
fact sheet
- English
- Short-beaked Echidna
- Nederlands
- Australische Mierenegel
- scientific name
- Tachyglossus aculeatus
- class
- Mammalia
- order
- Monotremata
- family
- Tachyglossidae
- IUCN Red List
- LC · least concern
- sightings in NL
- 0
- sightings worldwide
- 26,018
- GBIF records in NL
- 0
- weight
- —
- length
- —
- lifespan
- —
- named
- 1792 by George Shaw
IUCN in Dutch: niet bedreigd. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: iNaturalist taxon 43239, Wikidata Q193182, GBIF 2433378, Wikipedia (EN), Wikipedia (NL). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.