But for them to hatch with quills, that’d be counterintuitive to the mum’s laying the eggs. When they hatch, they’re just li’l embryoes, so they need to nurse on their mum for days…they sit in the pouch until their eyes open. So this whole time, they’re sitting in the mum’s pouch, she wouldn’t be happy at all if her little puggles were covered in quills, nor would they be happy either.

Now, these two probably aren’t birth-related, as Echidnas typically have only one young at a time. And if they are in fact twins, they’ve been hyper-nourished for a while.

But Lindsay, say you were birthing a baby who’d be covered in quills when he grew up. Would you be screaming if he had quills at birth? I think anyone would, including the poor mum.

Hedgehogs, porcupines, and Echidnas have no quills at birth. So they all look like that typical thing. Those babies have a nice ring of fat on their bodies, and underneath is the muscle, which makes them look exceedingly plump. They’re short and stocky, but those li’l buggers can pull a lot of muscle strength when they’re adults.

But actually, their species name is still called "Spiny Anteater", even though they're not at all part of the Anteater family—however, Short-Beaked and Long-Beaked are in more fashion nowadays. Due to their teeny squish bodies and the presence of a little tail on them, these are "Tachyglossus aculeatus", though whether they're the Acanthion or Aculeatus subspecie is anyone's guess. In general they look alike as puggles, but depending on region they're found born, you can tell the subspecie.