How echidnas survive brush fires

(Phys.org)—A trio of researchers with the University of New England, Curtin University and the University of Western Australia has discovered how echidnas manage to survive brush fires. In their paper published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, Julia Nowack, Christine Elizabeth Cooper and Fritz Geiser describe their study of the animals after a part of a nature preserve was deliberately set on fire to help fire-dependent vegetation become established.