Echidna Survival Technique Could Be Key To Mammals’ Success

Plants and Animals





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Echidnas have a remarkable talent to hibernate at will, one that could have been very useful in the deep past. Byvalet/Shutterstock

A study of how echidnas respond to fires has revealed a previously unknown capacity, one that may explain how mammals survived the global catastrophe that wiped out the dinosaurs.

Echidnas may look like oversized hedgehogs with an ant-eater's nose, but both their spines and mouthparts are examples of convergent evolution. They are actually monotremes, along with the platypus, the last surviving egg laying mammals. As such, they provide some insight into our distant ancestors.