After writing a very silly blog post last week, I have decided to lift my game and write about something serious. So today’s topic is going to be hedgehogs.
Well, more than just hedgehogs. I want to add porcupines and echidnas and inform you all of the Earth-shattering news that they are, in fact, not the same animal.
Not only aren’t they the same animal, they are in fact three very different species with some surprising news about echidnas in particular.
Let’s start with the hedgehog, which belongs to the order Insectivora, which surprisingly eats insects, while the porcupine belongs to the order Rodentia.
So it’s a rat with rather dangerous spikes. They are both Eutherian mammals, which give birth to live young.
Now the echidna, though, is one of the two weirdest animals on Earth.
From the order Monotremata, which means it’s not a rat. Here’s what it means courtesy of http://www.echidna.org.uk/details.html.
The name Monotreme comes from the fact that the echidnas and the platypus use the same opening for reproduction and eliminating waste products, which is an attribute that is found in reptiles (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1995).
Other reptilian characteristics include the ability to lay eggs, cervical ribs, and that there is “localisation of ascorbic acid synthesis in the kidney (Serena, 1994; p.118).
The long-beaked echidna is found in the humid mountain forests of Papua New Guinea and Irian Jaya.
The short-beaked echidna is more widely dispersed and can be found throughout Australia and parts of Papua New Guinea. Whereas the platypus is only found in the Eastern parts of Australia.
So an echidna has one hole, lays eggs, produces milk, is a marsupial of sorts, and it’s a monotreme brother of the platypus that got Charles Darwin into a lot of trouble.
It does share one habit with the hedgehog, though. It eats insects. But not rats.
Oh, by the way. Why do they all have spines then I hear you ask.
They are a product of convergent evolution. It sounds a bit complicated to me.
I might leave you to do some research on that, and I will get back to doing something else.
Hi Derek! Shockingly enough, I had never heard of an echidna, Just as I had never known that there were black squirrels until recently. Grey Squirrels are indigenous to my area. I am totally not a fan of any member of the "Rodentia" family.
Well, with the exception of the groundhog / woodchuck. They are kind of cute and furry. Oh! and there is just something about a "two toed" Sloth, although a different species altogether.
I caught a weasel last year. ewwww!!! I can't recall which family they are in. *Shivers*
Thank you for continuing with your interesting and entertaining blog.
On behalf of the family of hedgehogs, Prickle, Winkle and their daughter Spike, living in my garden, locally and colloquially known as 'HedgePigs' Derek, I should like to thank you for establishing the very real difference between them and the other two members of the spiny club within nature. They also asked me to point out that they do not like saucers of milk nor bits of stale bread being left out for them by well meaning but largely ignorant humans.
Yours Faithfully,
Jack the meal worm provider :)
Never grab a platypus by its back legs. It has an 'ankle spine' which contains poison. You heard it here.
Cute animals? Echidna, first time that I had heard of it!
Hedgehogs are very European to me. While growing up in Canada, I longed to see one . My picture books featured them. I didn’t see a real one until I was over thirty! It was confronted by a dog and rolled itself into a perfect ball. Beautiful example of defense.
Good grief! I feel spiked by a quill of ignorance. I could ID a hedgehog–but only from years of having played Sonic the . . . however, porcupines and echidnas have eluded me. Thank you! They are all ridiculously cute. My next question, of course–have you seen any of the three live?
Yes, I can attest to seeing all three. :)
Hello, I thought that hedgehogs were not found in North America.
And Porcupines were not found in Europe. Does this show up in your research?