Read the following facts about the life and times of the Echidna and answer the questions below:
An Echidna is a short-beaked, spiky animal that lives in
In Australia we are familiar with the short-beaked echidna. The Long-beaked Echidna is found in Papua New Guinea and the platypus is found in Eastern Australia and Tasmania.
The presence of echidnas was first recorded about 200 years ago by European settlers. The details of the first discoveries are not that well documented because the echidna is a very secretive creature whose habits are very hard to track and record. Extensive field research performed at the Pelican Lagoon Research Centre on Kangaroo Island has been involved in the study of echidnas since 1991. Volunteers participate in field work projects to help perform research and collate data on the echidnas which is documented and analysed to learn more about this reclusive creature.
Echidna’s ancestry dates back to when the dinosaurs were roaming the Earth! Research has indicated that echidnas could have existed from the time that Australia separated from the super-continent Gondwana land (around 140 million years ago). Due to this history, it is fascinating to discover that the echidna has survived so many different environments, yet has adapted to survive.
Echidnas are around 30 centimetres long. They have a snout which include nostrils and a mouth at the end of it. They also have a long tongue which has sticky saliva and is used to lick up insects. The echidna has no teeth. It is able to crush food it eats by using plates at the base of the roof and the tongue.
Echidnas have really strong claws that are used to dig burrows. The echidna will dig very quickly down into the ground and this burrow becomes useful when it needs to protect itself against enemies. The other defence mechanism it has, is of course, its spines! The echidna is fully covered in spines, and if they detect that an enemy is nearby they can curl up into a ball to protect their soft underbelly and just leave their spines exposed and showing.
After reading the information on the echidna, now it is your turn to research more information about the echidna! The following websites are some good links to the life and times of the echidna. Make sure you also look at other websites but make sure you do not – under any circumstances – copy and paste! All assessment tasks must be written in your own words. Make sure you reference any items you don’t understand and to reference the websites used as well as the author and the date (if you cannot find the author on the site then just state ‘unknown’.)
Some useful websites:
http://www.australianwildlife.com.au/features/echidna.htm
http://www.dpiwe.tas.gov.au/inter.nsf/WebPages/BHAN-5357K5?open
http://www.abc.net.au/schoolstv/animals/ECHIDNAS.htm
http://www.arazpa.org.au/Education_FactSheets_Echidna.htm
http://www.koala.net/ed/animals/ech1.htm
http://www.calm.wa.gov.au/plants_animals/odd_echidna.html
http://australian-animals.net/echidna.htm
Here are the questions you need to answer for the case study:
- Describe what an echidna looks like? Use diagrams to assist in the explanation – but a full description is required.
- Where are echidnas commonly found? Name these locations in the countries listed.
- Describe an echidna’s habitat. What does an echidna eat?
- What family or species does the echidna descend from? What is so fascinating about this family or species?
- Using the theory of natural selection (what was studied in class last week!) and your ‘Beaks and Feet’ sheet, describe at least three features of the echidna that allow the echidna to eat their food, hunt for food, to protect themselves against predators. You must also list them as a behavioural or structural adaptation.
For example, the shape of the echidna’s beak allows it to eat certain foods (list these foods yourselves!) and this is a structural adaptation.
6. Now that you have answered these background questions on echidnas, your task is to imagine that you are a scientist who is about to embark on a field trip, researching the secretive lifestyle of the echidna. The chosen destination is Kangaroo Island in South Australia. Before you head off for your field trip, you must find out some background information on Kangaroo Island. (A map of the island is located in the photo gallery on my web page).
You will need to find out the following things, using the daily journal entries and ecosystem knowledge from year 8! You can also use information on the internet.
