SPECIES: Tachyglossus aculeatus multiaculeatus — Kangaroo Island Echidna
CLASSIFICATION: Endangered
Adaptaion and defence mechanisms are certainly top on this one's list for features. The Kangaroo Island Echidna repels it's predators by curling into a ball. Plus, it can swim! It does however, hate the heat and lacks the ability to sweat. Once it gets to about eight weeks of age, a baby Echidna, called a puggle (awwww) becomes too spiky for the inside of it's mother's pouch, so out it must go into the big wide world. Major threats to this unique species is predation by feral cats and to a lesser extent, feral pigs, habitat loss and road mortality.
Photo credit: Kangaroo Island Land for Wildlife