Its weight varies from 5 to 10 kilograms (11 to 22 lb); its body length ranges from 60 to 100 centimetres (24 to 39 in); it has no tail.

[4] These species were then recognized based on various attributes such as body size, skull morphology, and the number of toes on the front and back feet.

The subspecies are: Eastern long-beaked echidnas are mainly insect eaters, or insectivores.

The long snout proves essential for the echidna's survival because of its ability to get in between hard-to-reach places and scavenge for smaller insect organisms such as larvae and ticks.

Along with this snout, they have a specific evolutionary adaptation in their tongues for snatching up various earthworms, which are its main type of food source.

Although monotremes have some of the same mammal features such as hair and mammary glands, they do not give birth to live young, they lay eggs.

[6] The way the spines on the echidna lie make it difficult to attach tracking devices, in addition to the difficulty in finding the animals themselves, as they are mainly nocturnal.