Crossword-Solution: ECHIDNAS 8 letters, 5 clues 🏆 scrabble score: 14

Three families--1st, _Tardigrades_, the Sloths, peculiar to America; 2nd, _Effodientia_, or Burrowers, of which the Indian type is the Manis, but which includes in other parts of the world the Armadillos and Anteaters; 3rd, _Monotremata_, Spiny Anteaters or Echidnas, and the Ornithorynchus.

There are several species of this great spine-bearing family; and many of them, especially the true porcupines and the echidnas, have burrows in the ground and thus have a double means of protecting themselves.

The five-toed Echidnas (genus Echidna) are found in New Guinea, Australia, and Tasmania, while the three-toed Echidnas (genus Proechidna) are confined to New Guinea.

The echidnas are exceedingly restless in confinement, and constantly endeavour by burrowing to effect their escape.

The ourang, the Malay tapir, and bears, and the flying-squirrels, with a rich array of birds, illustrate the zoology of the Indian Archipelago; while that of Australia and Tasmania are indicated by the kangaroos, duck-billed platypus, Tasmanian wolf, and echidnas, with many of the singular and strangely peculiar birds of this most remarkable zoological province, where we seem to have the lowest conditions of the vertebrate type, assembled as if to indicate a rudimentary stage in the world’s history.