Short-beaked Echidna - Cultural References

Cultural References

Short-beaked echidnas feature in the animistic culture of indigenous Australians, including their visual arts and stories. The species was a totem for some groups, including the Noongar people from Western Australia. Many groups have myths about the animal; one myth explains it was created when a group of hungry young men went hunting at night and stumbled across a wombat. They threw spears at the wombat, but lost sight of it in the darkness. The wombat adapted the spears for its own defence and turned into an echidna. Another story tells of a greedy man who kept food from his tribe; warriors speared him and he crawled away into the bushes, where he turned into an echidna, the spears becoming his spines.

The short-beaked echidna is an iconic animal in contemporary Australia, notably appearing on the Australian five-cent coin (the smallest denomination), and on a A$200 commemorative coin released in 1992. The short-beaked echidna has been included in several postal issues; it was one of four native species to appear on Australian postage stamps in 1974, when it was on the 25-cent stamp; it appeared on a 37-cent stamp in 1987, and in 1992 it was on the 35-cent stamp. The anthropomorphic echidna Millie was a mascot for the 2000 Summer Olympics. Knuckles the Echidna, from the Sonic the Hedgehog series is also based on the short-beaked echidna.