echidna

/ih-kid-nuh/US // ɪˈkɪd nə //UK // (ɪˈkɪdnə) //

针鼹鼠,针鼹鱼,针鼢鼠,针鼹

Definitions

n.名词 noun

1
- : Also called spiny anteater. any of several insectivorous monotremes of the genera Tachyglossus, of Australia, Tasmania, and New Guinea, and Zaglossus, of New Guinea, that have claws and a slender snout and are covered with coarse hair and long spines.

In the same way a peculiar form of covering occurs in Echidna and the hedgehog.
Compare feathered heads in very different birds with spines in Echidna and Hedgehog.
With the exception of the atlas of Echidna the cervical vertebrae are without zygapophyses.
In the hedgehogs, porcupines and Echidna certain of the hairs are modified and greatly enlarged, forming stiff spines.
In Echidna the face is drawn out into a gradually tapering rostrum, formed mainly by the premaxillae, maxillae and nasals.