60 



MAMMALIAN GALLERY. 



narrow snout, small mouth, long worm-like tongue, entire want of 

 teeth of any sort, rudimentary tail, free toes with stout digging 

 claws, and spiny porcupine-like coats. The family contains two 

 species, one with five toes to each foot, from Australia as well as 

 New Guinea; and the Three-toed Echidna (Proechidna bruijnii), 

 an animal which is confined to the mountainous region of Northern 

 New Guinea. 



All Echidnas live exclusively on ants, which they catch with 

 their long extensile tongues, like the true Anteaters. Their palates 

 are covered with rows of horny spines, which serve to scrape 

 the ants off the tongue when it is withdrawn into the mouth. 

 Echidnas are able, by the help of their strong curved claws, to 

 bury themselves in loose soil in a very few minutes. 



Fig. 25. 



Australian Water-Mole (Ornithorhynchm anatinus). 



The second family of the Order is the Ornithorhynchid(S } 

 distinguished by the extraordinary structure of the muzzle, which 

 resembles the bill of a duck, and is provided with horny lamella?, 

 which in the adult serve the purpose fulfilled during youth by 

 deciduous true teeth j the tail is long and broad, and the toes are 

 webbed ; its coat consists of thick, close hair without any spines. 



The only species is the Duck-billed Platypus (Ornithorhynchus 

 anatinus}, or Water-Mole of the colonists, which, as might be ex- 

 pected from its structure, is entirely an aquatic animal, feeding on 

 water-animals, for which it searches in the mud in the same manner 

 as a duck. Like the Echidna it is a native both of Australia and 

 Tasmania, but has not been found in New Guinea. 



