Echidnas

Despite being named for a mythical monster,
Echidnas are rather benign,
Provided you’re neither a bug nor a worm
And you don’t get too close to their spines.

Apart from the platypus, these are the only known
Monotremes living today.
(That isn’t the only strange sexual aspect;
The others, I’d rather not say.)

Echidnas, like anteaters, eat without teeth,
With the aid of those tongues that protrude.
One difference: Electroreceptors in snouts
Help echidnas discover their food.

Their stomachs, if that’s the right word for the organs,
Lack acid to break their food down.
Instead, elasticity comes into play;
Peristalsis is how the food’s ground.

Their bodily temperature’s lowest for mammals,
In torpor as low as 5 C.
Unable to sweat or to pant for relief,
They find shelter from heat to be key.

Their legs (front and back) are well suited for digging
As fast as a man with a spade.
They tolerate carbon dioxide a lot,
Since they stay in their burrows for shade.

Of mammals, they may have the flattest of eyes,
Which allows them to see far afield.
The same eyes are hard, which makes sense for a critter
Who forms a spiked ball for a shield.

As small critters go, they have excellent brains,
Spelling high rates of hunting success.
They also live long for their size, 50 years
At the most, though the mean is much less.

Four species survive, and they’re all in New Guinea.
The short-beaked variety’s found
In Australia and thus receives extra attention.
The rest don’t exactly abound.

They’re said to be some of the oldest of species,
Unchanged since before people wrote.
We still have a lot left to learn of echidnas.
I’d say that they’re creatures of note.