Comparative physiology of Australian echidnas (Tachyglossus aculeatus)

The short-beaked echidna has a combination of ancestral and derived physiological traits. Its physiology is less primitive than previously thought, with many aspects being typically mammalian, including a previously unrecognised capacity for evaporative heat loss. Echidnas have considerable metaboli...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Barker, Justine Megan
Format: Thesis
Published: Curtin University 2016
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/59649
_version_ 1848760531644579840
author Barker, Justine Megan
author_facet Barker, Justine Megan
author_sort Barker, Justine Megan
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description The short-beaked echidna has a combination of ancestral and derived physiological traits. Its physiology is less primitive than previously thought, with many aspects being typically mammalian, including a previously unrecognised capacity for evaporative heat loss. Echidnas have considerable metabolic, thermal and hygric plasticity to accommodate daily, seasonal and geographical environmental demands and there are significant differences in the physiology of the two most distinct sub-species.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T10:17:16Z
format Thesis
id curtin-20.500.11937-59649
institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T10:17:16Z
publishDate 2016
publisher Curtin University
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling curtin-20.500.11937-596492017-12-19T00:59:52Z Comparative physiology of Australian echidnas (Tachyglossus aculeatus) Barker, Justine Megan The short-beaked echidna has a combination of ancestral and derived physiological traits. Its physiology is less primitive than previously thought, with many aspects being typically mammalian, including a previously unrecognised capacity for evaporative heat loss. Echidnas have considerable metabolic, thermal and hygric plasticity to accommodate daily, seasonal and geographical environmental demands and there are significant differences in the physiology of the two most distinct sub-species. 2016 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/59649 Curtin University fulltext
spellingShingle Barker, Justine Megan
Comparative physiology of Australian echidnas (Tachyglossus aculeatus)
title Comparative physiology of Australian echidnas (Tachyglossus aculeatus)
title_full Comparative physiology of Australian echidnas (Tachyglossus aculeatus)
title_fullStr Comparative physiology of Australian echidnas (Tachyglossus aculeatus)
title_full_unstemmed Comparative physiology of Australian echidnas (Tachyglossus aculeatus)
title_short Comparative physiology of Australian echidnas (Tachyglossus aculeatus)
title_sort comparative physiology of australian echidnas (tachyglossus aculeatus)
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/59649