THE TRUE ECHIDNA. 



The whole of the animals hitherto considered in 

 this work and also in its predecessor, although 

 exhibiting the utmost variety of external appearance 

 and internal structure, are nevertheless all rateable 

 as typical examples of the class mammalia. Even 

 the marsupials, such as the thylacine, are associated 

 with their more orthodox brethren by many 

 naturalists, who in this respect oppose the tripartite 

 classification of Professor Huxley. Far different is 

 it with the lowly monotremes (the ornithorynchus, 

 the echidna, and the proechidnas) ; these are not 

 only hatched from eggs laid by the mother, but also 

 in their simple brains and in their skeleton exhibit 

 many signs of affinity with the reptilian ancestors 

 from which all mammals are sprung. 



The true echidna or spiny anteater [Ec/iidna 

 aatleata) — canara of the Burnett River natives — 

 measures from fourteen to nineteen inches in total 

 length. Its figure is squat and flattened above, the 

 burly outlines indicating considerable muscular power. 

 The head is small and rounded like that of a bird, 

 while the maxillEe are prolonged into a beak far more 

 ornithic than that of the great anteater already 

 described. The nostrils are small, situated in apteryx 

 fashion at the end of the snout, and surrounded 



