May 22: International Day for Biological Diversity

Porcupine or Platypus? It’s neither. Meet the echidna, egg laying mammal from Australia. Though absolutely harmless and living on a diet of worms and ants, it’s got its name from an ancient Greek mythical monster. She was half woman, half snake, and about the size of a suburban villa. She was a daughter of the seamonsters Keto and Phorkys, and thus a sister of the Gorgons (of which Medousa was one), and the Graiai, who had only one eye and one tooth between them. She lived in the depths of the ocean, with the primary god Typhon, also her brother. And a bunch of sweet little kids, like the hellhound Cerberus, the multi-headed Hydra, the fire-breathing Chimera, the human hunting Nemean Lion, Hera’s pet dragon Ladon, the boat-sized octopus Skylla, the bloodthirsty Sphinx, and the pesky Harpies. They all grew up in respect for the family tradition, to sow terror and death around the world, making their parents proud.

Echidna, Pirro Ligorio, Parco dei Mostri, Lazio, Italy

Phorkys/Phorcys, Mosaic, Bardo National Museum, Tunis, Tunisia

Did you know...

• Hyginus also adds the serpent that guarded the golden fleece to the list of Echidna's children.