Echidna or platypus?
How to tell them apart
The only other egg-laying mammals are the four species of echidna, which are covered in spines and live on land.
Quick answers
They differ on 4 of the 8 quick answers: carnivore, dangerous, awake when, do people eat it.
| Question | Echidna | Platypus |
|---|---|---|
| What is it? | Mammal | Mammal |
| Carnivore? differs | Insects only | Yes |
| Dangerous? differs | No | Can be |
| Domesticated? | No | No |
| Awake when? differs | Day & night | Night |
| Hibernates? | No | No |
| Kept as a pet? | No | No |
| Do people eat it? differs | In places | No |
At a glance
| Question | Echidna | Platypus |
|---|---|---|
| Found in differs | Australia, New Guinea | Australia |
| Habitat differs | – | Rivers & lakes |
| Size | Small | Small |
| Length differs | – | 39–60 cm |
| Weight differs | Females about 4.5 kg, males about 6 kg | 0.8–2.5 kg |
| Legs | 4 | 4 |
| Covered in differs | Spines | Fur |
| Lives | Alone | Alone |
| Lives for differs | 15–40 years | 12–17 years |
| Can fly | No | No |
| Swims | Yes | Yes |
| Lays eggs | Yes | Yes |
About each
Echidna
Four species of spiny, egg-laying mammals from Australia and New Guinea, also called spiny anteaters. Their snouts carry electrosensors for finding buried prey, and they have long sticky tongues but no teeth. Their young are called puggles.
Everything on the echidna page
Platypus
A duck-billed, egg-laying mammal of eastern Australia and Tasmania. It hunts underwater with its eyes, ears and nostrils shut, finding prey through electroreceptors in its bill.
Everything on the platypus page
Sources
Last reviewed . The answers and notes come from each animal's own page, where every source is listed.
How each answer is decided: How we answer. More look-alikes: Side by side.