Short-nosed echidna (English spelling)

Japanese: ハリモグラ(針土竜) - ハリモグラ（英語表記）short‐nosed echidna

A mammal of the monotreme order Echidna family (illustration). Although it has the name "mole," it is not related to moles (order Insectivores). It digs the ground with its front legs and eats by licking up ants, termites, and other insects with its long tongue, similar to the anteater, but its appearance is more like a hedgehog, with its entire body, except for part of its face and underside, covered in spines that are modified hair. The spines are yellow at the base and usually black at the tips. It has a remarkably long and slender snout and large front legs like those of a mole, which are suited to digging in the ground. Along with the platypus, it is known as a primitive egg-laying mammal.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

単孔目ハリモグラ科の哺乳類（イラスト）。モグラの名はつくが，モグラの仲間(食虫目)ではない。前足で地面を掘り，長い舌でアリ，シロアリその他の昆虫をなめとって食べる生活は，貧歯目のアリクイに似ているが，姿はハリネズミに似て，顔面の一部と腹面を除く全身を毛の変化したとげで覆う。とげは基部が黄色で，先端部はふつう黒色。吻（ふん）が著しく細長く，前足がモグラのそれのように大きく，土を掘るのに適する。カモノハシとともに卵生の原始的な哺乳類として知られる。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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