The long-beaked echidna is larger than the short-beaked and has fewer, shorter spines scattered among its coarse hairs.

Physiological Adaptations: They lay only one egg which hatches after 10 days and wean them with produced milk for two-three months. This is a vital part of the short-beaked Echidna as it enables the Echidna to gather food easier than without this adaptation. Once in the ant nest the Echidna sticks its tongue in and out and due it the tongue being long and sticky it gives them a higher chance of catching their prey. Echidnas are easily recognised by their coverage of spines. One species of long-beaked echidna, native to New Guinea, is named after Sir David Attenborough. Eastern long-beaked echidnas are mainly insect eaters, or insectivores. Their young are pushed out of their pouch whilst still young so their growing spikes do not penetrate the mother. There are five digits on both hind and forefeet, but on the former, only the three middle toes are equipped with claws. Echidnas have a dome shaped body about 30-45 centimetres long and weigh 2-7 kilograms. Short beaked echidnas live all over Australia. The long snout proves essential for the echidna's survival because of its ability to get in between hard-to-reach places and scavenge for smaller insect organisms such as larvae and ticks. The snout is two-thirds of the head length and curves slightly downward. Animal Adaptations: Animal Adaptations; Glossary . References ; Survey; Short Beaked Echidna. Hibernation . They also live in parts of Papa New Guinea. Hair is thicker in the colder, southern regions of Australia. Behavioural Adaptations: Echidna’s use their forepaws to dig into ants nests to find food and use their fast tongues to trap them. short-beaked echidna, found in New Guinea and throughout Australia. Migration. Although not as conspicuous, hair is present between the spines of the short-beaked echidna. It is relatively easy to discern the difference between the two genera of echidna: short-beaked echidnas are smaller and have longer hair than their long-beaked counterparts. Camouflage. From hot sandy deserts to cold snowy mountain tops. Echidnas range in colour from light brown in the northern, hotter parts of Australia to black in Tasmania. Males have a spur on each of the hind legs. Long-beaked echidnas live at a wide range of elevations, generally in forested areas and only where human populations are low. One Species of Echidna is named after Sir David Attenborough.