Family TACHYGLOSSIDAE

(ECHIDNAS)

* Medium-sized, egg-laying mammals, completely lacking teeth, adapted for insectivorous or myrmecophagous diet, with robust, dome-shaped, spine-covered bodies and slender beaks.

e 30-65 cm.

* Australasian Region.

* Mainly montane forests and alpine grasslands in New Guinea, but almost all terrestrial habitats in Australia.

s 2 genera, 4 species, 11 taxa.

* 3 species Critically Endangered; none Extinct since 1600.