A pretty bizarre animal.

We all know that one of the key characteristics of mammals is that they give birth to living young. There is one group of mammals, however, that lay eggs in which the young then develop. The group, known as Monotremes, consists of the duck-billed platypus (Ornithorynchus anatinus) and the short-nosed (Tachyglossus aculeata and long-nosed Zaglossus bruijni) ant-eaters or echidnas. Platypuses and short-nosed echidnas live in Tasmania and Australia, while the long-nosed echidna inhabits New Guinea.

Duck-billed platypuses and echidnas are now rigorously protected but in the past they were killed in significant numbers to meet the demands of museums and private individuals who were desperate to have these bizarre animals in their collections.

My short-nosed spiny ant-eater came from Tasmania and probably dates from the second half of the nineteenth century. I bought him* in 1964 from a dealer operating from a converted bus in a lay-by near to the village Durness in northern Scotland. It was offered for sale as a hedgehog with a price-tag of £1. However, the dealer was easily persuaded that it was a very badly stuffed hedgehog indeed and he reduced his price to 12s 6d!

*All male Monotremes have a wicked little spur on each ankle which are probably used when fighting for access to females. Echidnas are also unusual in having a four-headed penis. You may want to view a film that shows this bizarre apparatus; but there again perhaps you might not. Zoology rocks!