Echidna

Webster's Dictionary

(1): (n.) A genus of Monotremata found in Australia, Tasmania, and New Guinea. They are toothless and covered with spines; - called also porcupine ant-eater, and Australian ant-eater.

(2): (n.) A monster, half maid and half serpent.

The Nuttall Encyclopedia

A fabulous monster that figures in the Greek mythology, half-woman, half-serpent, the mother of Cerberus, the Lernean Hydra, the Chimæra, the Sphinx, the Gorgons, the Nemean Lion, the vulture that gnawed the liver of Prometheus, &c.