How short-beaked echidnas beat the heat

Subject :Environment

Section: Species in news

Context: With about 100 mucous secreting glands, this Australian mammal blows snot bubbles to bring down its body temperature.

More on the News:

Short-beaked echidnas of the semi-arid Dryandra Woodland in Western Australia face searing hot summers. They can’t pant like dogs to cool off since their long, thin, sticky tongues are useful only to feed. Neither do they sweat as we do. Nor do they lick their arms like kangaroos whose evaporating saliva cools the underlying blood vessels. Vultures squirt watery poop on their naked legs for the same reason.
Just as the thorns of cacti reduce heat loss, so do the two-inch-long spines of echidnas. When the quills are slicked back, they trap warmth. When they are raised, heat escapes. Another strategy of the domestic cat-sized animals is to lie flat, pressing their spineless stomachs to the cool soil with their legs and noses stretched out.
The pencil-thin, three-inch tubular snout is the egg-laying mammal’s prey detection kit. It is covered with electroreceptors that detect the underground wrigglings of ants, termites, and grubs. These sensors work only when they are moist. For this reason, the echidna’s nose has about 100 mucous secreting glands.
Viewed through a thermal camera, the echidna’s pointy nose appears blue, much cooler than the rest of its body, which glows in the warm colours of orange, pink and red. When a hot animal blows mucus balloons that burst over its nose, evaporation cools the blood vessels inside the snout. Circulating this blood through the body brings down the body temperature.

Echidnas:

Echidnas, also known as spiny anteaters, are small, egg-laying mammals found in Australia and New Guinea. They are one of only two extant monotremes (the other being the platypus) which are mammals that lay eggs instead of giving birth to live young.
Echidnas are covered in spines, which protect them from predators. They use their strong claws to dig into the ground and create burrows where they can rest during the day.
They have a long, sticky tongue that they use to capture insects and other small prey. They do not have teeth, so they grind up their food with keratinous pads in their mouths.
Female echidnas lay a single leathery egg, which hatches after about 10 days. The young, called puggles, are born without spines and are carried in a pouch on the mother’s belly until they are able to survive on their own.
Echidnas are important to the ecosystem because they help to control insect populations.
However, echidnas are facing threats from habitat loss and fragmentation, vehicle collisions, and predation by introduced predators such as foxes and cats. Climate change is also a potential threat, as it may affect the availability of insects, which are a major food source for echidnas.
Echidnas are listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, but some subspecies are considered to be vulnerable or endangered.