Weird & Wild: The love lives of our national icons.
Artwork of the enigmatic four-headed penis echidna and bottom biting wombat.
Well it’s the season of love in February with Saint Valentine’s Day and Random Acts of Kindness and Harmony Day all falling this month.
Did you know that Saint Valentine, whilst being associated with courtly love, is also the patron saint of epilepsy and beekeepers? I’m not quite sure why he is the patron saint of beekeeping, perhaps the link to love and fertility?
Anyway in the true spirit of courtly love I’m going to highlight some of the more weird and wonderful mating facts of some of our amazing creatures!
Echidna
All aboard!
Echidna mating is generally quite unusual — Travelling in trains up to ten echidnas long, the odd procedure involves a line of males following a single female, nose to tail, in a process known as ‘trailing’, leading to a female echidna choosing its mate before reproducing.
Male Echidnas have a four-headed penis [!] and the female has 2 vagina so the male will alternate using 2 at a time.
A female echidna typically has a 20-day gestation period before laying an egg directly into a temporary pouch that develops when pregnant and reverts when no longer required.
Puggles hatch about 10 days after an egg is laid and stay in the pouch for two to three months.
Kangaroos
Threes a crowd?
Kangaroos have three vaginas! Incredibly, the third vagina only forms when a female kangaroo becomes pregnant, creating a more direct route for a joey to be born. Depending on the species mating can last in various bursts for up to an hour. Sometimes this is because the male is fighting off wannabee dads.
Embryonic diapause refers to a pretty amazing reproductive strategy, where an embryo is suspended. Almost all kangaroos have embryonic diapause, with environmental factors and lactation both playing key roles in making them almost continuous breeders. Interestingly, the Western Grey Kangaroo missed out.
Dibbler
Size matters!
Dibbler size plays a big part in reproductive success. A female will reject any dibbler that she can fight off, the strategy being that she wants, presumably, the biggest strongest male to sire her young.
Males sometimes die after breeding, although this does not always happen every season.
Learn more about the Dibbler and other threatened wildlife with our Australian Animal Alphabet Flashcards.
Wombats
Love bites.
A female wombat will bite the male on the bum when she’s ready to mate.
Like other marsupials, the female has two vaginas. Both of the vaginas open externally through one orifice, but lead to different compartments within the uterus. Males usually have a two-pronged penis, which corresponds to the females' two vaginas.
Our Baby Milestone cards feature breeding information on the reverse and make a beautiful baby shower gift.