Characteristics of the detachment monotreme oviparous (Monotremata). Monotreme Mammals: General Characteristics, Features and Origin Report on Oviparous

28.10.2019

2 families: platypuses and echidnas
Range: Australia, Tasmania, New Guinea
Food: insects, small aquatic animals
Body length: 30 to 80 cm

Subclass oviparous mammals represented by only one detachment - single-pass. This detachment unites only two families: platypus and echidna. single pass are the most primitive living mammals. They are the only mammals that, like birds or reptiles, reproduce by laying eggs. Oviparous feed their young with milk and therefore are classified as mammals. Female echidnas and platypuses do not have nipples, and the young lick the milk secreted by the tubular mammary glands directly from the fur on the mother's belly.

amazing animals

Echidnas and platypuses- the most unusual representatives of the class of mammals. They are called single-pass because both the intestines and the bladder of these animals open into one special cavity - the cloaca. Two oviducts in monotreme females also go there. Most mammals do not have a cloaca; this cavity is characteristic of reptiles. The stomach of oviparous is also amazing - like a bird's goiter, it does not digest food, but only stores it. Digestion takes place in the intestines. These strange mammals even have a lower body temperature than others: without rising above 36°C, it can drop to 25°C, depending on the environment, like in reptiles. Echidnas and platypuses are voiceless - they do not have vocal cords, and only young platypuses have toothless - rapidly decaying teeth.

Echidnas live up to 30 years, platypuses - up to 10. They live in forests, steppes overgrown with shrubs, and even in mountains at an altitude of up to 2500 m.

Origin and discovery of oviparous

Short Fact
Platypuses and echidnas are venomous mammals. On their hind legs they have a bone spur, through which a poisonous liquid flows. This poison causes an early death in most animals, and severe pain and swelling in humans. Among mammals, in addition to the platypus and echidna, only a representative of the order of insectivores is venomous - an open tooth and two species of shrews.

Like all mammals, oviparous descend from reptilian ancestors. However, they separated quite early from other mammals, choosing their own path of development and forming a separate branch in the evolution of animals. Thus, the oviparous were not the ancestors of other mammals - they developed in parallel with them and independently of them. Platypuses are more ancient animals than echidnas, which evolved from them, changed and adapted to the terrestrial way of life.

Europeans learned about the existence of egg-laying almost 100 years after the discovery of Australia, at the end of the 17th century. When the skin of a platypus was brought to the English zoologist George Shaw, he decided that he was simply played, the appearance of this bizarre creature of nature was so unusual for Europeans. And the fact that echidnas and platypuses reproduce by laying eggs has become one of the greatest zoological sensations.

Despite the fact that the echidna and platypus have been known to science for quite a long time, these amazing animals are still presenting new discoveries to zoologists.

wonder beast, platypus as if assembled from parts of different animals: his nose is like a duck's beak, his flat tail looks like it was taken from a beaver with a shovel, webbed paws look like flippers, but are equipped with powerful claws for digging (when digging, the membrane bends, and when walking it gathers into folds, without interfering with free movement). But for all the seeming absurdity, this beast is perfectly adapted to the way of life that it leads, and has hardly changed over millions of years.

At night, the platypus hunts for small crustaceans, mollusks and other small aquatic animals. The tail-fin and webbed paws help him to dive and swim well. The eyes, ears and nostrils of the platypus close tightly in the water, and it finds its prey in the dark under water with the help of a sensitive "beak". On this leathery "beak" are electroreceptors that can pick up weak electrical impulses emitted by movement of aquatic invertebrates. Reacting to these signals, the platypus instantly searches for prey, fills the cheek pouches, and then slowly eats the caught on the shore.

All day the platypus sleeps near the pond in a hole dug by powerful claws. The platypus has a dozen such holes, and each has several exits and entrances - not an extra precaution. To breed offspring, the female platypus prepares a special hole lined with soft leaves and grass - it is warm and humid there.

Pregnancy lasts a month, and the female lays one to three leathery eggs. Mother platypus incubates eggs for 10 days, warming them with her body. Newborn tiny platypuses, 2.5 cm long, live on their mother's belly for another 4 months, feeding on milk. The female spends most of her time lying on her back and only occasionally leaves the burrow to feed. Leaving, the platypus wall up the cubs in the nest so that no one will disturb them until she returns. At the age of 5 months, matured platypuses become independent and leave their mother's hole.

Platypuses were mercilessly exterminated because of their valuable fur, but now, fortunately, they are taken under the strictest protection, and their numbers have increased again.

A relative of the platypus, it does not look like him at all. She, like the platypus, is an excellent swimmer, but she does it only for pleasure: she does not know how to dive and get food under water.

Another important difference: the echidna has brood bag- pocket on the belly, where she puts the egg. The female, although she raises her cubs in a comfortable hole, can safely leave her - an egg or a newborn cub in her pocket is reliably protected from the vicissitudes of fate. At the age of 50 days, the little echidna already leaves the bag, but for about 5 months it lives in a hole under the auspices of a caring mother.

The echidna lives on the ground and feeds on insects, mainly ants and termites. Raking termite mounds with strong paws with hard claws, it extracts insects with a long and sticky tongue. The body of the echidna is protected by needles, and in case of danger it curls up into a ball, like an ordinary hedgehog, exposing the enemy with a prickly back.

wedding ceremony

From May to September, the mating season begins for the echidna. At this time, the female echidna enjoys special attention from males. They line up and follow her in single file. The procession is led by the female, and the grooms follow her in order of seniority - the youngest and most inexperienced close the chain. So, in a company, echidnas spend a whole month, looking for food together, traveling and relaxing.

But the rivals cannot coexist peacefully for long. Demonstrating their strength and passion, they begin to dance around the chosen one, raking the ground with their claws. The female finds herself in the center of a circle formed by a deep furrow, and the males begin to fight, pushing each other out of the ring-shaped pit. The winner of the tournament gets the favor of the female.

The most primitive of modern mammals. Females lay 1 or 2 eggs, which are incubated in a pouch formed on the belly during the breeding season (echidnas) or “hatch” (platypus). The cubs are fed with milk, which is secreted in two glandular fields of the female's belly.

Teeth are available only in young animals or absent.

The average body temperature is lower than that of other mammals and varies between 25 and 36 degrees.

Monotremes live in forests, steppes, plains and mountains up to 2.5 thousand meters above sea level.

Distributed in Australia, New Guinea, Tasmania.

There are 2 families in the detachment: echidnas and platypuses.

Echidna family - Tachygloossidae

Platypus family - Ornitorhynchidae

The platypus is the only member of the family. Therefore, it makes no sense to describe the family of platypuses. The platypus was discovered at the very end of the 18th century. during the colonization of New South Wales. In the list of animals of this colony published in 1802, the platypus was first mentioned as “an amphibious animal from the genus of moles ... Its most curious quality is that it has a duck's beak instead of the usual mouth, allowing it to eat in the mud, like birds. ..". It was also noted that this animal digs a hole for itself with its claws. In 1799 Shaw and Nodder gave it a zoological name. The head of the platypus is round and smooth; there is no external ear. The front paws are strongly webbed, but the web that serves the animal when swimming is folded when the platypus walks on land or if it needs claws to dig a hole. The webs on the hind legs are much less developed. The main role in digging and swimming is played by the front paws, the hind limbs are of great importance when moving on land. The platypus usually spends about two hours a day in the water. It feeds twice: early in the morning and in the evening twilight. He spends most of his time in his hole, on land. The platypus feeds on small aquatic animals. He stirs up the silt at the bottom of the reservoir with his beak and catches insects, crustaceans, worms and molluscs. Under water, he feels free, unless, of course, it is possible to catch his breath on the surface from time to time. Diving and rummaging in the silt, he is guided mainly by touch; his ears and eyes are protected by fur. On land, the platypus, in addition to touch, is guided by sight and hearing. Platypus burrows are located outside the water, including the entrance, located somewhere under the overhanging shore at a height of 1.2-3.6 m above the water level. Only an exceptionally high flood can flood the entrance to such a hole. An ordinary hole is a semicircular cave dug under the roots of trees, with two or more entrances. Every year, the platypus goes into a short winter hibernation, after which it has a breeding season. Male and female platypus meet in the water. The cubs are blind for 11 weeks, then their eyes open, but they remain in the hole for another 6 weeks. These babies, which feed only on milk, have teeth; as the animal grows, the milk teeth disappear and are replaced by simple horny plates. Only after 4 months, young platypuses go on their first brief excursion into the water, where they begin to clumsily search for food. The transition from dairy to adult nutrition is gradual. Platypuses are well tamed and live up to 10 years of age in captivity.

This is a secretive nocturnal semi-aquatic animal that inhabits the banks of small rivers and stagnant reservoirs of Eastern Australia in a vast range from the cold plateaus of Tasmania and the Australian Alps to the tropical rainforests of coastal Queensland. In the north, its range reaches the Cape York Peninsula (Cooktown).

The body length of the platypus is 30-40 cm, the tail is 10-15 cm, it weighs up to 2 kg. Males are about a third larger than females. The body of the platypus is squat, short-legged; the tail is flattened, similar to the tail of a beaver, but covered with hair, which thins noticeably with age. In the tail of the platypus, reserves of fat are deposited. Its fur is thick, soft, usually dark brown on the back and reddish or gray on the belly. The head is round. Anteriorly, the facial section is elongated into a flat beak about 65 mm long and 50 mm wide. The beak is not hard like in birds, but soft, covered with elastic bare skin, which is stretched over two thin, long, arched bones. The oral cavity is expanded into cheek pouches, in which food is stored during feeding. At the bottom at the base of the beak, males have a specific gland that produces a secretion with a musky odor. Young platypuses have 8 teeth, but they are fragile and wear out quickly, giving way to keratinized plates.

The paws of the platypus are five-fingered, adapted for both swimming and digging. The swimming membrane on the front paws protrudes in front of the toes, but can be bent in such a way that the claws are exposed outward, turning the swimming limb into a digging one. The webs on the hind legs are much less developed; for swimming, the platypus does not use its hind legs, like other semi-aquatic animals, but its front legs. The hind legs act as a rudder in the water, and the tail serves as a stabilizer. The gait of the platypus on land is more reminiscent of the gait of a reptile - he puts his legs on the sides of the body.

Its nasal openings open on the upper side of the beak. There are no auricles. The eyes and ear openings are located in the grooves on the sides of the head. When the animal dives, the edges of these grooves, like the valves of the nostrils, close, so that neither sight, nor hearing, nor smell can function under water. However, the skin of the beak is rich in nerve endings, and this provides the platypus not only with a highly developed sense of touch, but also with the ability to electrolocate. Electroreceptors in the bill can detect weak electric fields, such as those produced by crustacean muscle contractions, which help the platypus find prey. While looking for it, the platypus continuously moves its head from side to side during spearfishing.

Young platypuses of both sexes have rudiments of horn spurs on their hind legs. In females, by the age of one year, they fall off, while in males they continue to grow, reaching 1.2-1.5 cm in length by the time of puberty. Each spur is connected by a duct to the femoral gland, which during the mating season produces a complex "cocktail" of poisons. Males use spurs during courtship fights. Platypus venom can kill a dingo or other small animal. For a person, it is generally not fatal, but it causes very severe pain, and edema develops at the injection site, which gradually spreads to the entire limb.

The platypus lives along the banks of water bodies. It shelters in a short straight burrow (up to 10 m long), with two entrances and an internal chamber. One entrance is underwater, the other is located 1.2-3.6 m above the water level, under the roots of trees or in thickets.

The platypus is an excellent swimmer and diver, remaining underwater for up to 5 minutes. In water, he spends up to 10 hours a day, since he needs to eat an amount of food per day that is up to a quarter of his own weight. The platypus is active at night and at dusk. It feeds on small aquatic animals, stirring up silt at the bottom of the reservoir with its beak and catching rising living creatures. They observed how the platypus, feeding, turns over stones with its claws or with the help of its beak. He eats crustaceans, worms, insect larvae; rarely tadpoles, mollusks and aquatic vegetation. Having collected food in the cheek pouches, the platypus rises to the surface and, lying on the water, grinds it with its horny jaws.

Every year, platypuses fall into a 5-10-day winter hibernation, after which they have a breeding season. It continues from August to November. Mating takes place in the water. The male bites the female by the tail, and for some time the animals swim in a circle, after which mating takes place (in addition, 4 more variants of the courtship ritual were recorded). The male covers several females; platypuses do not form permanent pairs.

After mating, the female digs a brood burrow. Unlike the usual burrow, it is longer and ends with a nesting chamber. Inside, a nest is built from stems and leaves; The female wears the material, pressing her tail to her stomach. She then plugs the corridor with one or more earth plugs 15-20 cm thick to protect the burrow from predators and floods. The female makes plugs with the help of her tail, which she uses like a mason's trowel. The nest inside is always damp, which prevents the eggs from drying out. The male does not take part in the construction of the burrow and the rearing of the young.

2 weeks after mating, the female lays 1-3 (usually 2) eggs. Platypus eggs are similar to reptile eggs - they are round, small (11 mm in diameter) and covered with an off-white leathery shell. After laying, the eggs stick together with a sticky substance that covers them from the outside. Incubation lasts up to 10 days; during incubation, the female rarely leaves the burrow and usually lies curled up around the eggs.

Platypus cubs are born naked and blind, about 2.5 cm long. When they hatch from an egg, they pierce the shell with an egg tooth, which falls off immediately after leaving the egg. The female, lying on her back, moves them to her belly. She doesn't have a pouch. The mother feeds the cubs with milk, which comes out through the enlarged pores on her stomach. Milk flows down the mother's coat, accumulating in special grooves, and the cubs lick it off. The mother leaves the offspring only for a short time to feed and dry the skin; leaving, she clogs the entrance with soil. The eyes of the cubs open at 11 weeks. Milk feeding lasts up to 4 months; at 17 weeks, the cubs begin to leave the hole to hunt. Young platypuses reach sexual maturity at the age of 1 year. The lifespan of platypuses in nature is unknown; in captivity, they live an average of 10 years.

Prochidna Bruyna
Western Long-beaked Echidna
(Zaglossus bruijni)

The habitat of the prochidna is the highlands of the northwestern part of New Guinea and the Salavati and Waigeo Islands (Indonesia). Its natural habitat is humid mountain forests, although sometimes it is found in alpine meadows at an altitude of up to 4000 m above sea level.

Body length up to 77 cm and weighing 5-10 kg. The most well-fed individuals weigh more than 16 kg. The tail is rudimentary, 5-7 cm long. The limbs are higher than those of echidnas, with well-developed muscles and powerful claws. Males have horny spurs on the inner surface of the hind legs, similar to those of the platypus, but not poisonous. The hind limbs of the prochidna are five-fingered, the forelimbs are three-fingered. The beak (rostrum) of the prochidna occupies 2/3 of the length of the head and is strongly curved down; at its end are nostrils and a small mouth. On the head are visible small auricles. The prochidna's tongue is very long (up to 30 cm) and covered with sharp spines that compensate for the absence of teeth. The body of the prochidna is covered with coarse dark brown or black hair; short spines grow on the back and sides, almost hidden by fur. The color of the needles varies from almost white to black, 3-5 cm long.

The diet of the prochidna almost entirely consists of earthworms, which she is looking for, rummaging with her beak in the ground. Having caught a large worm, the prochidna steps on it with its front paw, grabs the tip of the worm into its mouth and, actively helping itself with its tongue, draws it inside. In this case, the worm pricks itself on the sharp spikes of the tongue. Less commonly, worms eat termites, insect larvae, and possibly ants.

The beak is needed by the prochidna not only to search for food. It turned out that this is also an additional tenacious limb, which allows the animal to overcome obstacles or turn stones over like a lever. She moves rather slowly, with her head down to the ground. If a stone or a log comes across on the way, she prefers to climb over it, rather than go around; lake or puddle - swim across. If frightened, the snail hides or crouches, bending its beak under itself and sticking its needles out.

Proechidnas are heterothermal animals; their temperature, depending on the ambient temperature, can vary from 36 to 25 °C. At the same time, prochidnas continue to remain active and only under the most unfavorable conditions fall into hibernation.

The breeding season for proechidnas begins in July. After mating, the female lays one egg, which she places in her pouch. After about ten days, a cub hatches from the egg, which the female feeds with milk for up to 6 months.

The longest lifespan recorded in an individual living in the London Zoo is 30 years and 8 months.

Barton's prochidna
Eastern Long-beaked Echidna
(Zaglossus bartoni)

Distributed in the mountains of central and eastern New Guinea. It lives in tropical forests at an altitude of about 4100 m above sea level.

Body weight is 5-10 kg, body length is from 60 to 100 cm. Unlike other representatives of the genus, it has 5 claws on the forelimbs.

The Attenborough prochidna (Zaglossus attenboroughi) also belongs to the genus (Zaglossus). This species is only known from a single specimen that was found during the Dutch colonial period in 1961. Since then, no other copies have been found.

Australian echidna
Short-beaked Echidna
(Tachyglossus aculeatus)

It lives in Australia, Tasmania, New Guinea and the islands in the Bass Strait.

The Australian echidna is smaller than the prochidna: its usual length is 30-45 cm, weight is from 2.5 to 5 kg. The Tasmanian subspecies is somewhat larger - up to 53 cm. The head of the echidna is covered with coarse hair; the neck is short, almost invisible from the outside. The auricles are not visible. The muzzle of the echidna is elongated into a narrow "beak" 75 mm long, straight or slightly curved. It is an adaptation to searching for prey in narrow crevices and holes, from where the echidna gets it with its long sticky tongue. The mouth opening at the end of the beak is toothless and very small; it does not open wider than 5 mm. Like the platypus, the "beak" of the echidna is richly innervated. Its skin contains both mechanoreceptors and special electroreceptor cells; with their help, the echidna picks up weak fluctuations in the electric field that occur when small animals move. Not a single mammal, apart from echidnas and platypuses, has had such an electrolocation organ.

This is a terrestrial animal, although if necessary it is able to swim and cross fairly large bodies of water. Echidna is found in any landscape that provides it with enough food - from wet forests to dry bush and even deserts. It is also found in mountainous areas, where snow lies part of the year, and on agricultural lands, and even in the metropolitan suburbs. The echidna is active mainly during the day, but hot weather makes it switch to a nocturnal lifestyle. Echidna is poorly adapted to the heat, because it does not have sweat glands, and the body temperature is very low - 30-32 ° C. In hot or cold weather, it becomes lethargic; with a strong cold snap, it hibernates for up to 4 months. Stocks of subcutaneous fat allow her, if necessary, to starve for a month or more.

It feeds on ants, termites, less often other insects, small mollusks and worms. She digs up anthills and termite mounds, digs through the forest floor with her nose, strips bark from fallen rotten trees, shifts and overturns stones. Having found insects, the echidna throws out its long sticky tongue, to which the prey sticks. The echidna has no teeth, but the root of the tongue has keratin teeth that rub against the pectinate palate and thus grind food. In addition, the echidna, like birds, swallows earth, sand and small stones, which complete the grinding of food in the stomach.

Echidna leads a solitary lifestyle (except for the mating season). This is not a territorial animal - echidnas encountered simply ignore each other; it does not suit permanent burrows and nests. For rest, the echidna settles in any convenient place - under the roots, stones, in the hollows of fallen trees. The echidna runs badly. Its main defense is thorns; a disturbed echidna rolls up into a ball, like a hedgehog, and if it has time, it partially burrows into the ground, exposing its back to the enemy with raised needles.

Echidnas live so secretly that the features of their mating behavior and reproduction were published only in 2003, after 12 years of field observations. It turned out that during the courtship period, which lasts from May to September (in different parts of the range, the time of its onset varies), these animals are kept in groups consisting of a female and several males. Both females and males at this time emit a strong musky smell, allowing them to find each other. The group feeds and rests together; when crossing, echidnas follow in single file, forming a "train" or caravan. Ahead is a female, followed by males, which can be 7-10. Courtship lasts up to 4 weeks. When the female is ready to mate, she lies down, and the males begin to circle around her, throwing clods of earth aside. After some time, a real trench 18-25 cm deep forms around the female. The males violently push each other, pushing out of the trench until one male winner remains inside the ring. If there was only one male, the trench is straight. Mating (on the side) lasts about an hour.

Pregnancy lasts 21-28 days. The female builds a brood burrow, a warm, dry chamber often dug under an empty anthill, termite mound, or even under a pile of garden debris next to human habitation. Usually in the clutch there is one leathery egg with a diameter of 13-17 mm and weighing only 1.5 g. For a long time it remained a mystery how the echidna moves the egg from the cloaca to the brood pouch - its mouth is too small for this, and its paws are clumsy. Presumably, postponing it, the echidna deftly curls up into a ball; while the skin on the abdomen forms a fold that releases a sticky fluid. As it freezes, it glues the egg that has rolled onto its stomach and at the same time shapes the bag.

After 10 days, a tiny cub hatches - it is 15 mm long and weighs only 0.4-0.5 g. When hatching, the puggle breaks the egg shell with the help of a horny bump on the nose, an analogue of the egg tooth of birds and reptiles. The eyes of a newborn echidna are hidden under the skin, and the hind legs are practically not developed. But the front paws already have well-defined fingers. With their help, the newborn moves from the back of the bag to the front in about 4 hours, where there is a special area of skin called the milky field, or areola. In this area, 100-150 pores of the mammary glands open; each pore is provided with a modified hair. When the baby squeezes these hairs with his mouth, milk enters his stomach. The high iron content gives echidna milk its pink color.

Young echidnas grow very quickly, in just two months increasing their weight by 800-1000 times, that is, up to 400 g. The cub remains in the mother's pouch for 50-55 days - until the age when it develops spines. After that, the mother leaves him in a shelter and until the age of 5-6 months comes to feed every 5-10 days. In total, milk feeding lasts 200 days. Between 180 and 240 days of life, the young echidna leaves the hole and begins to lead an independent life. Sexual maturity occurs at 2-3 years. Echidna breeds only once every two years or less; according to some reports - once every 3-7 years. But the low rate of reproduction is offset by her long lifespan. In nature, the echidna lives up to 16 years; the recorded longevity record at the zoo is 45 years.

Following the discovery of the platypus, news came of another creature with a beak, only now it is covered with needles. This is an echidna. For a long time, scientists argued about which class to classify these two creatures. And they came to the conclusion that the platypus and echidna, egg-laying mammals, should be placed in a separate detachment. This is how the detachment One-pass, or cloacal, appeared.

Amazing platypus

A unique creature of its kind, leading a nocturnal lifestyle. The platypus is distributed only in Australia and Tasmania. The animal lives half in the water, that is, it builds holes with access to the water and to land, and also feeds in the water. A creature of small size - up to 40 centimeters. It has, as already mentioned, a duck nose, but at the same time it is soft and covered with skin. Only in appearance it is very similar to a duck. There is also a 15 cm tail, similar to a beaver's tail. The paws are webbed, but at the same time they do not prevent the platypus from walking on the ground and digging holes perfectly.

Since the genitourinary system and intestines exit the animal into one hole, or cloaca, it was assigned to a separate species - cloacae. It is interesting that the platypus, unlike ordinary mammals, swims with the help of its front paws, and the hind legs serve as a rudder. Among other things, let's pay attention to how it reproduces.

Platypus breeding

An interesting fact: before breeding, animals hibernate for 10 days, and only after that the mating season begins. It lasts almost the entire autumn, from August to November. Platypuses mate in the water, and after a two-week period, the female lays an average of 2 eggs. Males do not participate in the later life of offspring.

The female builds a special hole (up to 15 meters long) with a nest at the end of the tunnel. Lines it with raw leaves and stems to maintain a certain humidity so that the eggs do not dry out. Interestingly, for protection, she also builds a barrier wall 15 centimeters thick.

Only after the preparatory work, she lays eggs in the nest. The platypus incubates eggs by curling up around them. After 10 days, babies are born, naked and blind, like all mammals. The female feeds the babies with milk, which flows from the pores directly through the fur into the grooves and accumulates in them. Babies lick milk and thus feed. Feeding lasts about 4 months, and then the kids learn to get food on their own. It was the method of reproduction that gave this species the name "egg-laying mammal".

extraordinary echidna

Echidna is also an egg-laying mammal. This is a land creature of small size, reaching up to 40 centimeters. It also lives in Australia, Tasmania and the islands of New Guinea. In appearance, this animal looks like a hedgehog, but with a long narrow beak, not exceeding 7.5 centimeters. Interestingly, the echidna has no teeth, and it catches prey with the help of a long sticky tongue.

The body of the echidna is covered on the back and sides with spines, which were formed from coarse wool. Wool covers the belly, head and paws of the animal. Echidna is fully adapted for a certain type of food. It feeds on termites, ants and small insects. She leads a daytime lifestyle, although it is not easy to find her. The fact is that she has a low body temperature, up to 32 degrees, and this does not allow her to endure a decrease or increase in ambient temperature. In this case, the echidna becomes lethargic and rests under trees or hibernates.

Echidna breeding method

Echidna is an egg-laying mammal, but it was only possible to prove this at the beginning of the 21st century. The mating games of echidnas are interesting. There are up to 10 males per female. When she decides she's ready to mate, she lays down on her back. At the same time, males dig a trench around it and begin to fight for supremacy. The one who turned out to be stronger copulates with the female.

Pregnancy lasts up to 28 days and ends with the appearance of one egg, which the female moves to the brood fold. It is still not clear how the female moves the egg into the bag, but after 10 days the baby appears. The cub comes into the world incompletely formed.

Young

The birth of such a baby is very similar to the birth of young marsupials. They also pass their final development in the mother's pouch and leave her as adults, ready for independent life. An interesting fact: marsupials are also common only in Australia.

How does the baby echidna appear? He is blind and naked, his hind limbs are not developed, his eyes are covered with a leathery film, and fingers are formed only on the front paws. It takes a baby 4 hours to get to milk. Interestingly, in the mother's pouch there are 100-150 pores that secrete milk through special hairs. The kid just needs to get to them.

The baby is in the mother's pouch for about 2 months. He gains weight very quickly due to nutritious milk. Echidna's milk is the only one that has a pink color due to the large amount of iron in it. Feeding continues up to 6.5 months. After the young growth learns to get food on its own.

prochidna

Prochidna is another egg-laying mammal. This creature is much larger than its counterparts. The habitat is the north of New Guinea and the islands of Indonesia. The size of the prochidna is impressive, up to 80 centimeters, while its weight is up to 10 kilograms. It looks like a echidna, but the beak is much longer and the needles are much shorter. She lives in mountainous areas and feeds mostly on worms. The structure of the oral cavity of the prochidna is interesting: her tongue has teeth, and with the help of it she is able not only to chew food, but, as has been noted, even to turn over stones.

This species is the least studied, as it lives in the mountains. But at the same time, it was noticed that the animal does not lose mobility in any weather, does not hibernate and knows how to regulate its own body temperature. Reproduction of egg-laying mammals, to which the prochidna belongs, occurs in the same way as in the other two species. She hatches only one egg, which is placed in a bag on her stomach, and feeds the cub with milk.

Comparative characteristics

Now let's look at the types of mammals that live on the Australian continent. So, what is the difference between oviparous, marsupial and placental mammals? To begin with, it must be said that all mammals feed their offspring with milk. But the birth of babies has huge differences.

Oviparous animals have one thing in common. They lay eggs like birds and incubate them for a certain amount of time. After the birth of the offspring, the mother's body produces milk, which the babies eat. It should be noted that the cubs do not suck milk, but lick it from the grooves on the female's stomach. The absence of nipples distinguishes oviparous from other mammals.

Marsupials have a brood pouch, hence their name. The pouch is located on the abdomen of females. A newborn baby, having reached it, finds a nipple and, as it were, hangs on it. The fact is that babies are born unformed and spend several more months in their mother's pouch until they are fully developed. It must be said that oviparous and marsupial mammals are similar in this respect. Echidna and prochidna babies are also born underdeveloped and placed in a kind of brood fold.

What about placental mammals? Their babies are born fully formed due to the presence of a placenta in the uterus. Due to it, the process of nutrition and development of the cub takes place. The majority of animals are placental.

Such a variety of species exists on one continent.

General characteristics of the detachment monotreme oviparous (Monotremata). Description of the history of the discovery and appearance of the platypus. Features of the organ system and animal metabolism, nutrition and reproduction. Study of the echididae family (Tachyglossidae).

monotreme monotremata platypus echidna

Introduction

Conclusion

List of sources

Introduction

First animals (lat. Prototheria) - a subclass of primitive mammals that combine the features of mammals and reptiles. In this subclass, the only infraclass cloacae is distinguished, which is opposed to the placental and marsupial infraclasses from the subclass Animals. Modern species of first animals form only one detachment - monotremes.

First animals are a small group of species distributed in the Australian region. According to a number of features, the subclass of the first beasts and the infraclass of cloacae are considered the most archaic and primitive among the infraclasses of mammals.

Unlike other mammals, primitive animals reproduce by laying eggs, but more than half of the developmental period of the embryo takes place in the female genital tract. Thus, the laid eggs contain an already sufficiently developed embryo and one can speak not only of oviposition, but also of an incomplete live birth.

In females, instead of nipples, there are areas of the mammary glands from which the offspring licks milk. There are no fleshy lips (effective for sucking). In addition, they, like birds and reptiles, have only one passage.

There is a coat, but homoiothermia (maintaining body temperature at a constant level) is incomplete, body temperature varies between 22-37 ° C.

Monotremes (lat. Monotremata), or oviparous (also sometimes cloacal) - the only modern detachment of the infraclass cloacal.

The name is due to the fact that the intestines and urogenital sinus flow into the cloaca (similarly - in amphibians, reptiles and birds), and do not go out in separate passages.

According to paleontologist K.Yu. Eskov, the fact that the appearance of the first dinosaurs and other archosaurs at one time was marked by a mass (though not complete) extinction of therapsids, the higher forms of which were very close to monotreme mammals in their organization and, according to some assumptions, may have had dairy glands and wool. Nowadays, all types of cesspools live in Australia, New Guinea and Tasmania. Most of the species in this subclass are extinct. Oviparous monotremes are known from Cretaceous and Cenozoic fossils, currently represented by five cloacal species in two families (platypuses and echidnas) and a single order (monotrems).

According to paleontologist K.Yu. Yeskov, the fact that the appearance of archosaurs (a group of reptiles to which dinosaurs belong) coincided with the massive, but not complete, extinction of therapsids, the highest forms of which were very close to monotreme mammals in their organization, and, according to some assumptions, may , had mammary glands and wool.

Fossil remains of representatives of the monotreme order are known only from Australia. The most ancient finds date back to the Pleistocene and do not differ significantly from modern forms. There are two possible theories explaining the origin of the monotremes. According to one of them, monotremes developed independently and in complete isolation from other mammals, starting from the early period of the emergence of mammals, possibly from their reptile-like ancestors. According to another theory, a group of monotremes separated from the ancient marsupials and acquired its features due to specialization, retaining a number of features characteristic of marsupials, underwent degeneration and, possibly, to a certain extent, returned to the forms of their ancestors (reversion). The first of the theories seems more plausible. Significant differences in morphology between echidnas and platypus emerged in a relatively short period of time - starting from the upper Eocene.

1. Characteristics of the detachment monotreme oviparous (Monotremata)

Monotremes are a small group of the most primitive living mammals. Females lay 1 or 2, rarely 3 eggs (a large amount of yolk is characteristic, the main mass of which is located at one of the poles of the egg). Hatching of young from eggs occurs with the help of a special egg "tooth" formed on a small ovoid bone. Young animals hatched from eggs are fed with milk. During the breeding season, a brood pouch can form on the belly of the female, in which the laid egg matures.

The sizes of single passers are small: the body length is 30-80 cm. They have a heavy build, short plantigrade limbs, specialized for digging or swimming. The head is small, with an elongated "beak", covered with a cornea. The eyes are small, the external auricles are barely visible or absent altogether. The body is covered with coarse hair and spines or soft thick fur. Vibrissae are absent. In the calcaneal region of the hind limbs there is a horny spur, which is especially strongly developed in males. The spur is pierced by a canal - a special duct associated with the so-called shin gland, the function of which is not entirely clear. Apparently, it has some significance in reproduction. It is also suggested (unconvincingly) that the secret of the shin gland is poisonous and the spur serves as a weapon of defense. Mammary glands are tubular. There are no true nipples, and the excretory ducts of the glands open separately from each other on two glandular fields of the female's belly.

The average body temperature is lower than that of other mammals (platypus on average 32.2°C, echidnas - 31.1°C). Body temperature can vary between 25° and 36°C. The bladder, into which the ureters flow, opens into the cloaca. The oviducts enter the cloaca separately (there is no vagina or uterus). The testicles are located in the abdominal cavity. The penis is fixed on the ventral wall of the cloaca and serves only to remove sperm.

The skull is flattened. The front section is elongated. The cartilaginous skull and the ratio of bones in the roof of the skull are to a certain extent similar to reptiles. Skull roof with anterofrontal and posterior frontal bones; the presence of these bones in the roof of the skull is the only case among mammals. The tympanic bone has the form of a flattened ring that does not fuse with the skull. The bony auditory meatus is absent. The malleus and incus in the middle ear fuse together and have a long process (processus folii). The lacrimal bone is absent. The zygomatic bone is greatly reduced in size or absent. Only monotremes among all mammals have a pre-vomer (praevomer). The premaxilla has a process similar to that of reptiles (processus ascendus); this is the only case among mammals. The articular fossa for the lower jaw is formed by the squamous bone. The lower jaw has only two weakly expressed processes - coronal and angular.

Teeth are present only in young animals or are completely absent. The shape of the teeth to a certain extent resembles the shape of the teeth of the Mesozoic Microleptidae. The skeleton of the forelimb girdle is characterized by a coracoid (coracoideum) and a procoracoid (procoracoi-deum) that are unique among mammals. In the presence of these bones, the similarity of the shoulder girdle of monotremes with the shoulder girdle of reptiles is manifested. Sternum with large breastplate (episternum). The clavicle is very large. Blade without comb. The humerus is short and powerful. The ulna is much longer than the radius. The wrist is short and wide. The fore and hind limbs are five-fingered. Fingers end in claws. In the pelvic girdle of males and females there are so-called marsupial bones (ossa marsupialia), which are attached to the pubic bones. Their function is unclear. The symphysis of the pelvic bones is greatly elongated. The proximal tibia with a large flattened process (peronecranon).

The spinal column consists of 7 cervical, 15-17 thoracic, 2-3 lumbar, 2 sacral, 0-2 coccygeal and 11-20 caudal vertebrae (Fig. 1).

Rice. 1 Platypus Skeleton

The whole body is covered with a highly developed layer of subcutaneous muscles (rap-niculus carnosus). Only in the region of the head, tail, limbs, cloaca and mammary glands, the subcutaneous muscles are not developed. The lower jaw has a musculus detrahens attached on its inner side; this is the only case in mammals. The larynx is primitive and does not have vocal cords.

The brain is generally large, has mammalian features, but retains a number of reptilian features. Large hemispheres with numerous, sometimes few furrows. The structure of the cerebral cortex is primitive. Olfactory lobes are very large. The cerebellum is only partially covered by the cerebral hemispheres. The corpus callosum (corpus callosum) is absent; it is presented only as commissura dorsalis. The sense of smell is highly developed. Jacobson's organ is well developed. The structure of the hearing organs is primitive. Eyes with or without nictitating membrane. The sclera has cartilage. The vascular membrane is thin. Musculus dilatatorius and Musculus ciliaris are absent. The retina has no blood vessels.

The brain of platypuses is devoid of furrows and convolutions and, according to the plan of functional organization, resembles the brain of an echidna. Motor and sensory projections do not overlap all the way, while visual and auditory projections in the occipital pole of the cortex overlap with each other and partially with the somatic projection. Such an organization of the platypus neocortex, approaching the cortical plate of reptiles, allows it to be considered as even more primitive in comparison with echidnas.

Consequently, the brain of monotremes still retains many features of the brain of reptiles and at the same time differs from the latter in the general plan of structure characteristic of mammals.

The salivary glands are small or large. The stomach is simple, without digestive glands, which is the only case in mammals. Its function appears to be food storage, similar to that of the crop of birds. The digestive tract is divided into small, large intestines, there is a caecum. The intestines open into the cloaca, which is present in both sexes. The liver is multilobed, with a gallbladder. The heart of monotremes has a structure characteristic of mammals, however, it also retains some reptile-like features, such as the fact that the right atrioventricular opening is equipped with only one valve.

Monotremes live in forests of various types, in steppes overgrown with shrubs, on plains and in mountains, rising up to 2.5 thousand meters above sea level. They lead a semi-aquatic (platypus) or terrestrial (echidna) lifestyle; twilight and nocturnal activity; feed on insects and aquatic invertebrates. Life expectancy up to 30 years. Distributed in Australia, Tasmania, New Guinea.

Modern monotremes in their characteristics, compared with all other modern mammals, are closest to reptiles. However, they are not the ancestors of marsupials or placental mammals, but represent a separate specialized branch in the evolution of mammals. Fossil remains of representatives of the monotreme order are known only from Australia. The most ancient finds date back to the Pleistocene and do not differ significantly from modern forms. There are two possible theories explaining the origin of the monotremes. According to one of them, monotremes developed independently and in complete isolation from other mammals, starting from the early period of the emergence of mammals, possibly from their reptile-like ancestors. According to another theory, a group of monotremes separated from the ancient marsupials and acquired its features due to specialization, retaining a number of features characteristic of marsupials, underwent degeneration and, possibly, to a certain extent, returned to the forms of their ancestors (reversion). The first of the theories seems more plausible. Significant differences in morphology between echidnas and platypus emerged in a relatively short period of time - starting from the upper Eocene. Echidnas are secondarily terrestrial mammals that diverged from ancient aquatic platypuses.

2. Platypus family (Ornithorhynchidae)

The platypus was discovered in the 18th century. during the colonization of New South Wales. In the list of animals of this colony published in 1802, "an amphibious animal from the genus of moles is mentioned. Its most curious quality is that it has a duck's beak instead of the usual mouth, allowing it to feed in the mud, like birds."

The first skin of a platypus was sent to England in 1797. Its appearance gave rise to fierce disputes among the scientific community. At first, the skin was considered the product of some taxidermist who sewed a duck's beak to the skin of an animal that looked like a beaver. This suspicion was dispelled by George Shaw, who studied the parcel and came to the conclusion that it was not a fake (for this, Shaw even cut the skin in search of stitches). The question arose of which group of animals the platypus belongs to. Already after it received its scientific name, the first animals were brought to England, and it turned out that the female platypus does not have visible mammary glands, but this animal, like birds, has a cloaca. For a quarter of a century, scientists could not decide where to attribute the platypus - to mammals, birds, reptiles, or even to a separate class, until in 1824 the German biologist Meckel discovered that the platypus still has mammary glands and the female feeds her cubs with milk. That the platypus lays eggs was only proven in 1884.

The zoological name for this strange animal was given in 1799 by the English naturalist George Shaw - Platypus anatinus, from other Greek. rlbfet (wide, flat) and rpet (paw) and lat. anatinus, "duck". In 1800, Johann-Friedrich Blumenbach, in order to avoid homonymy with the genus of bark beetles Platypus, changed the generic name to Ornithorhynchus, from other Greek. ?snyt "bird", ?egpt "beak". The natives of Australia knew the platypus by many names, including mallangong, boondaburra and tambreet. Early European settlers called it "platypus" (duckbill), "duck mole" (duckmole) and "water mole" (watermole). The name platypus is currently used in English.

Appearance

The body length of the platypus is 30-40 cm, the tail is 10-15 cm, it weighs up to 2 kg. Males are about a third larger than females. The body of the platypus is squat, short-legged; the tail is flattened, similar to the tail of a beaver, but covered with hair, which thins noticeably with age. In the tail of the platypus, like the Tasmanian devil, reserves of fat are deposited. Its fur is thick, soft, usually dark brown on the back and reddish or gray on the belly. The head is round. Anteriorly, the facial section is elongated into a flat beak about 65 mm long and 50 mm wide (Fig. 2). The beak is not hard like in birds, but soft, covered with elastic bare skin, which is stretched over two thin, long, arched bones.

The oral cavity is expanded into cheek pouches, in which food is stored during feeding. At the bottom at the base of the beak, males have a specific gland that produces a secretion with a musky odor. Young platypuses have 8 teeth, but they are fragile and wear out quickly, giving way to keratinized plates.

Its nasal openings open on the upper side of the beak. There are no auricles. The eyes and ear openings are located in the grooves on the sides of the head. When the animal dives, the edges of these grooves, like the valves of the nostrils, close, so that neither sight, nor hearing, nor smell can function under water. However, the skin of the beak is rich in nerve endings, and this provides the platypus not only with a highly developed sense of touch, but also with the ability to electrolocate. Electroreceptors in the bill can detect weak electric fields, such as those produced by crustacean muscle contractions, which help the platypus find prey. When looking for it, the platypus continuously moves its head from side to side during spearfishing.

Organ systems

The platypus is the only mammal that has developed electroreception. Electroreceptors have also been found in the echidna, but its use of electroreception is unlikely to play an important role in the search for prey.

Features of metabolism

The platypus has a remarkably low metabolism compared to other mammals; his normal body temperature is only 32°C. However, at the same time, he perfectly knows how to regulate body temperature. Thus, being in water at 5°C, the platypus can maintain normal body temperature for several hours by increasing the metabolic rate by more than 3 times.

platypus venom

The platypus is one of the few venomous mammals (along with some shrews and flint teeth that have toxic saliva).

Other oviparous - echidnas - also have rudimentary spurs on their hind legs, but they are not developed and are not poisonous.

reproductive system

The reproductive system of the male platypus is normal for mammals, except that his testicles are inside the body, near the kidneys, and there is also a bifurcated (many-headed) penis, common in most primitive mammals of the monotreme order (platypus, echidna) and marsupial order (possum, koala and others).

The reproductive system of the female differs from that of placental animals. Her paired ovaries are similar to those of a bird or reptile; only the left one functions, the right one is underdeveloped and does not produce eggs.

Sex determination

In 2004, scientists at the Australian National University in Canberra discovered that the platypus has 10 sex chromosomes, not two (XY) like most mammals. Accordingly, the combination XXXXXXXXXX gives a female, and XYXYXYXYXY gives a male. All sex chromosomes are connected into a single complex, which behaves as a whole during meiosis. Therefore, in males, spermatozoa are formed that have chains XXXXX and YYYYY. When sperm XXXXX fertilizes an egg, female platypuses are born, if sperm YYYYY is male platypuses. Although the X1 platypus chromosome has 11 genes that are found on all mammalian X chromosomes, and the X5 chromosome has a gene called DMRT1 that is found on the Z chromosome in birds, being a key sex gene in birds, overall genomic studies have shown that five sex The X chromosomes of the platypus are homologous to the Z chromosome of birds. The platypus lacks the SRY gene (a key gene for sex determination in mammals); it is characterized by incomplete dosage compensation recently described in birds. Apparently, the mechanism for determining the sex of the platypus is similar to that of its reptile ancestors.

Lifestyle and nutrition

The platypus is a secretive nocturnal semi-aquatic animal that inhabits the banks of small rivers and stagnant reservoirs of Eastern Australia in a vast range from the cold plateaus of Tasmania and the Australian Alps to the rain forests of coastal Queensland. In the north, its range reaches the Cape York Peninsula (Cooktown). Less is known about the distribution of the platypus within the mainland. Apparently, it has completely disappeared in South Australia (except for Kangaroo Island) and in most of the Murray-Darling river basin. The reason for this was probably water pollution, to which the platypus is very sensitive. He prefers water temperatures of 25-29.9°C; does not occur in brackish water.

In nature, the enemies of the platypus are few. Occasionally it is attacked by a monitor lizard, a python and a sea leopard swimming in the rivers.

reproduction

Platypus cubs are born naked and blind, about 2.5 cm long. The female, lying on her back, moves them to her belly. She doesn't have a pouch. The mother feeds the cubs with milk, which comes out through the enlarged pores on her stomach. Milk flows down the mother's coat, accumulating in special grooves, and the cubs lick it off. The mother leaves the offspring only for a short time to feed and dry the skin; leaving, she clogs the entrance with soil. The eyes of the cubs open at 11 weeks. Milk feeding lasts up to 4 months; at 17 weeks, the cubs begin to leave the hole to hunt. Young platypuses reach sexual maturity at the age of 1 year.

The lifespan of platypuses in nature is unknown; in captivity, they live an average of 10 years.

Population status and protection

Platypuses previously served as an object of fishing because of valuable fur, but at the beginning of the 20th century. hunting them was prohibited. Currently, their population is considered to be relatively stable, although due to water pollution and habitat degradation, the platypus's range is becoming increasingly mosaic. Some damage was caused to it by the rabbits brought by the colonists, who, digging holes, disturbed the platypuses, forcing them to leave their habitable places.

The Australians have created a special system of reserves and "shelters" (sanctuary), where platypuses can feel safe. Among them, the most famous are Hillsville Reserve in Victoria and West Burley in Queensland.

Platypus evolution

Monotremes are the surviving representatives of one of the earliest branches of mammals. The age of the oldest monotreme found in Australia is 110 million years (Steropodon). It was a small, rodent-like animal that was nocturnal and, most likely, did not lay eggs, but gave birth to severely underdeveloped cubs. The fossilized tooth of another fossil platypus (Obdurodon), found in 1991 in Patagonia (Argentina), indicates that, most likely, the ancestors of the platypus came to Australia from South America, when these continents were part of the Gondwana supercontinent. The closest ancestors of the modern platypus appeared about 4.5 million years ago, while the earliest fossil specimen of Ornithorhynchus anatinus proper dates from the Pleistocene. Fossil platypuses resembled modern ones, but were smaller in size.

In May 2008, it was announced that the platypus genome had been deciphered.

3. Echidna family (Tachyglossidae)

For the first time, European scientists learned about the echidna in 1792, when a member of the Royal Zoological Society in London, George Shaw (the same one who described the platypus a few years later) compiled a description of this animal, mistakenly classifying it as an anteater. The fact is that this amazing nosy creature was caught on an anthill. The scientist did not have any other information about the biology of the animal. Ten years later, Shaw's compatriot anatomist Edward Home discovered one common feature in echidna and platypus - both of these animals have only one opening at the back leading to the cloaca. And already the intestines, and the ureters, and the genital tract open into it. Based on this feature, a detachment of monotremes (Monotremata) was singled out.

Appearance

Echidnas look like a small porcupine, as they are covered with coarse wool and quills. The maximum body length is approximately 30 cm (Fig. 3). Their lips are beak-shaped. Echidna limbs are short and rather strong, with large claws, so they can dig well. The echidna has no teeth, its mouth is small. The basis of the diet is termites and ants, which echidnas catch with their long sticky tongue, as well as other small invertebrates, which echidnas crush in their mouths, pressing their tongue against the palate.

The echidna's head is covered with coarse hair; the neck is short, almost invisible from the outside. The auricles are not visible. The muzzle of the echidna is elongated into a narrow "beak" 75 mm long, straight or slightly curved. It is an adaptation to searching for prey in narrow crevices and holes, from where the echidna gets it with its long sticky tongue. The mouth opening at the end of the beak is toothless and very small; it does not open wider than 5 mm. Like the platypus, the "beak" of the echidna is richly innervated. Its skin contains both mechanoreceptors and special electroreceptor cells; with their help, the echidna picks up weak fluctuations in the electric field that occur when small animals move. Not a single mammal, apart from echidnas and platypuses, has had such an electrolocation organ.

Muscular system

The muscles of the echidna are rather peculiar. So, a special muscle panniculus carnosus, located under the skin and covering the entire body, allows the echidna to curl up into a ball in case of danger, hiding the stomach and exposing the spines. The muscles of the muzzle and tongue of the echidna are highly specialized. Her tongue is able to protrude from her mouth by 18 cm (its total length reaches 25 cm). It is covered in slime to which ants and termites stick. The protrusion of the tongue is provided by the contraction of the circular muscles, which change its shape and push it forward, and two geniohyoid muscles, which are attached to the root of the tongue and the lower jaw. The protruding tongue becomes stiffer due to the rapid flow of blood. Its retraction is provided by two longitudinal muscles. The tongue is able to move at high speed - up to 100 movements per minute.

Nervous system

Echidnas have poor eyesight, but their sense of smell and hearing are well developed. Their ears are sensitive to low frequency sounds, which allows them to hear termites and ants under the soil. The brain of the echidna is better developed than that of the platypus, and has more convolutions.

Until recently, it was believed that the echidna is the only mammal that does not see dreams. However, in February 2000, scientists from the University of Tasmania found that a sleeping echidna goes through a phase of REM sleep, but that it depends on the ambient temperature. At 25°C, the echidna had a GD phase; however, as the temperature increased or decreased, it decreased or disappeared.

Lifestyle and nutrition

This is a terrestrial animal, although if necessary it is able to swim and cross fairly large bodies of water. Echidna is found in any landscape that provides it with enough food - from wet forests to dry bush and even deserts. It is also found in mountainous areas, where snow lies part of the year, and on agricultural lands, and even in the metropolitan suburbs. The echidna is active mainly during the day, but hot weather makes it switch to a nocturnal lifestyle. The echidna is poorly adapted to the heat, since it does not have sweat glands, and its body temperature is very low - 30-32°C. In hot or cold weather, it becomes lethargic; with a strong cold snap, it hibernates for up to 4 months. Stocks of subcutaneous fat allow her, if necessary, to starve for a month or more.

Echidna feeds on ants, termites, less often other insects, small mollusks and worms. She digs up anthills and termite mounds, digs through the forest floor with her nose, strips bark from fallen rotten trees, shifts and overturns stones. Having found insects, the echidna throws out its long sticky tongue, to which the prey sticks. The echidna has no teeth, but the root of the tongue has keratin teeth that rub against the pectinate palate and thus grind food. In addition, the echidna, like birds, swallows earth, sand and small stones, which complete the grinding of food in the stomach.

Echidna leads a solitary lifestyle (with the exception of the mating season). This is not a territorial animal - echidnas encountered simply ignore each other; it does not suit permanent burrows and nests. For rest, the echidna settles in any convenient place - under the roots, stones, in the hollows of fallen trees. The echidna runs badly. Its main defense is thorns; a disturbed echidna rolls up into a ball, like a hedgehog, and if it has time, it partially burrows into the ground, exposing its back to the enemy with raised needles. It is very difficult to pull the echidna out of the dug hole, because it strongly rests on its paws and needles. Among the predators that hunt echidnas are Tasmanian devils, as well as cats, foxes and dogs introduced by people. Humans rarely pursue her, as the skin of the echidna is of little value and the meat is not particularly tasty. The sounds that an alarmed echidna makes are reminiscent of soft grunts.

One of the largest fleas, Bradiopsylla echidnae, is found on echidnas, the length of which reaches 4 mm.

reproduction

For a long time it remained a mystery how the echidna moves the egg from the cloaca to the brood pouch - its mouth is too small for this, and its paws are clumsy.

Presumably, postponing it, the echidna deftly curls up into a ball; while the skin on the abdomen forms a fold that releases a sticky fluid. When it hardens, it glues the egg that has rolled out onto the stomach and at the same time gives the bag a shape (Fig. 4).

Brood pouch of a female echidna

After 10 days, a tiny cub hatches: it is 15 mm long and weighs only 0.4-0.5 g. When it hatches, it breaks the egg shell with the help of a horny bump on the nose, an analogue of the egg tooth of birds and reptiles. The eyes of a newborn echidna are hidden under the skin, and the hind legs are practically not developed. But the front paws already have well-defined fingers. With their help, the newborn moves from the back of the bag to the front in about 4 hours, where there is a special area of skin called the milky field, or areola. In this area, 100-150 pores of the mammary glands open; each pore is provided with a modified hair. When the cub squeezes these hairs with his mouth, milk enters his stomach. The high iron content gives echidna milk its pink color.

Young echidnas grow very quickly, in just two months increasing their weight by 800-1000 times, that is, up to 400 g. The cub remains in the mother's pouch for 50-55 days - until the age when it develops spines. After that, the mother leaves him in a shelter and until the age of 5-6 months comes to feed every 5-10 days. In total, milk feeding lasts 200 days. Between 180 and 240 days of life, the young echidna leaves the hole and begins to lead an independent life. Sexual maturity occurs at 2-3 years. Echidna breeds only once every two years or less; according to some reports - once every 3-7 years. But the low rate of reproduction is compensated by her long lifespan. In nature, the echidna lives up to 16 years; the recorded longevity record at the zoo is 45 years.

Population status and protection

Echidnas do well in captivity, but do not breed. Only five zoos managed to get the offspring of the Australian echidna, but in no case did the young grow to adulthood.

Conclusion

Since 1798, disputes between zoologists in England, France and Germany have not subsided. They argued about the place in the taxonomy of these "animals with one hole", or, in scientific terms, monotremes. This special subclass of mammals consists of only two families - echidnas and platypuses, whose representatives are found only in Eastern Australia, New Guinea and Tasmania. Even the fossil remains of their extinct ancestors have never been found anywhere else.

The names of these animals, which came into use in all countries with the light hand of the British, are scientifically incorrect: echidna is a fairly well-known species of eel, and therefore it would be more correct to call it a platypus hedgehog; the British call the platypus platypus, while it is known throughout the scientific world that one species of beetles was named that way back in 1793. The Germans often call the platypus and echidna cesspool animals, which is especially tactless, because it suggests some kind of alleged uncleanliness of these animals or their adherence to sewers. Meanwhile, this name means only one thing: in these animals, the intestines and urogenital canal do not open outwards with independent holes (as in other mammals), but, like in reptiles and birds, they flow into the so-called cloaca, which communicates with the external environment with one hole. So an unappetizing name should in no case scare anyone away and suggest latrines. On the contrary, these animals are very clean: if they settle near human habitation, they do not live in polluted rivers, but only in reservoirs with clean drinking water.

Today, neither platypuses nor echidnas can be considered endangered or endangered. These animals have almost no natural enemies; only a carpet python, a fox or a marsupial devil can covet them. Some platypuses die in the tops of the fishermen: they swim there, but they no longer find a way out, so they cannot go upstairs for the necessary portion of air and suffocate. Until now, it has not been possible to convince fishermen to use tops with a hole at the top.

However, since 1905, platypuses have been under the full protection of the Australian state and have since bred quite successfully. They are found up to a height of 1650 meters above sea level. Most of them are in Tasmania. There platypuses are met even in the suburbs of the capital - the city of Hobart. Zoologist Sharland believes that the intricate labyrinths of platypuses with nesting chambers can be found even under the streets of the suburbs. But one should not think that it is so easy for any strolling summer resident to see a platypus - one must not forget that this is a very cautious animal, leading a predominantly nocturnal lifestyle.

List of sources

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