Aculeated Ant-Eater.

Rare, early c.19th hand coloured engraving of an Echidna.

The first sighting and drawing of an Echidna was made on 9th February, 1792 by George Tobin, third lieutenant on Bligh’s second voyage at Adventure Bay;

‘The only animals seen, were the Kangaroo, and a kind of sloth about the size of a roasting pig with a proboscis two or three inches in length’

By July 1792 George Shaw had provided the first scientific description and including it among the giant anteaters, Myrmecophaga, of South America. Several other names were proposed and found to be invalid before Illger coined the name Tachyglossus in 1811.

Other modern common names: Short-beaked Echidna, Echidna, Spiny Anteater or Porcupine.
Modern binomial name: Tachyglossus aculeatus
First described: Shaw, 1792
Distribution: Australia wide (mainland).

The source of this illustration as noted by the publisher;
Of these botanical productions, and other rare objects of natural history, by the friendship of a gentleman in an official department, who was for many years resident, we possess a very valuable collection of original drawings, executed with admirable accuracy and taste.

From; The Naturalist’s Pocket Magazine; or, Compleat Cabinet of the Curiosities and Beauties of Nature