Short-beaked Echidna

This egg laying mammal seems common in Australia. We only just spotted the first one living in the wild. It was huge, probably more than 40cm in size. It crossed the road in the outback but was shy and was eventually hiding under a fallen pine tree, rolled into a ball and not moving any more. So, we left it in peace. This is quite an interesting animal and another example how confusing taxonomy can be. Echidna is also a genus but a completely different animal, namely a mooray eel.