Zustand: used on cover November 18, gestempelt 18. November
Die
Ameisenigel (Tachyglossidae), auch als
Schnabeligel oder
Echidna
bezeichnet, sind eine
Familie eierlegender
Säugetiere. Zusammen mit dem
Schnabeltier, dem einzigen verbleibenden anderen
Säugetier mit dieser Art der Fortpflanzung, bilden sie die Ordnung
der
Kloakentiere (Monotremata). Die Familie wird in
zwei Gattungen mit insgesamt vier Arten unterteilt, den
Kurzschnabeligel (
Tachyglossus
aculeatus) und die drei Arten der
Langschnabeligel (
Zaglossus).
Echidnas /ɨˈkɪdnə/, sometimes known
as spiny anteaters, belong to the family Tachyglossidae in
the monotreme order of egg-laying mammals.
The four extant species, together with the platypus, are the only surviving members of that
order and are the only extant mammals that
lay eggs. Although their diet consists largely of ants and
termites, they are no more closely related to the true
anteaters of the Americas than to any other placental mammal. They
live in Australia and New
Guinea. The echidnas are named after the "Mother of monsters" in Greek
mythology. Echidnas are small, solitary mammals covered with
coarse hair and spines. Superficially, they resemble the
anteaters of South America and other spiny mammals such as hedgehogs and porcupines. They have elongated and slender snouts
which function as both mouth and nose. Like the platypus, they are
equipped with electrosensors, but while the platypus has
40,000 electroreceptors on its bill, the long-billed echidna has
only 2,000, and the short-billed echidna, which lives in a drier
environment, has no more than 400 located at the tip of its
snout.[4]
They have very short, strong limbs with large claws, and are
powerful diggers. Echidnas have tiny mouths and
toothless jaws. The echidna feeds by tearing open soft logs,
anthills and the like, and using its long,
sticky tongue, which protrudes from its snout, to collect
prey. The short-beaked echidna's diet consists
largely of ants and termites, while the Zaglossus species
typically eats worms and insect larvae. Long-beaked echidnas have sharp, tiny
spines on their tongues that help capture their prey. Echidnas and
the platypus are the only egg-laying mammals, known as monotremes.
The female lays a single soft-shelled, leathery egg 22 days after mating, and deposits it
directly into her pouch. Hatching takes place after 10 days; the
young echidna then sucks milk from the
pores of the two milk patches (monotremes have no nipples)
and remains in the pouch for 45 to 55 days, at which time it starts
to develop spines. The mother digs a nursery burrow and deposits
the young, returning every five days to suckle it until it is
weaned at seven months. Neocortex makes up half of the echidna's brain,
compared to one-third of a human brain. Due to their low metabolism
and accompanying stress resistance, echidnas are long-lived for
their size; the longest recorded lifespan for a captive echidna is
50 years, with anecdotal accounts of wild individuals reaching 45
years. Contrary to previous research, the echidna does enter
REM sleep, but only when the
ambient temperature is around 25°C (77°F). At temperatures of 15°C
(59°F) and 28°C (~82°F), REM sleep is suppressed. Male echidnas
have non-venomous spurs on the hind feet.
Les
échidnés (du
latin
echidna, du
grec
ancien ἔχιδνα /
ékhidna, «
vipère »;
Tachyglossidae) partagent
avec les
ornithorynques au sein de l'ordre des
monotrèmes un mélange de caractères
reptiliens et
mammifères typiques.
