Echidnas, sometimes known as spiny anteaters, belong to the family Tachyglossidae in the monotreme order of egg-laying mammals. The four extant species of Echidnas and the platypus are the only living mammals that lay eggs and the only surviving members of the order Monotremata; the diet of some species consists of ants and termites, but they are not related to the true anteaters of the Americas, which are xenarthrans, along with sloths and armadillos. Echidnas live in New Guinea. Echidnas evolved between 50 million years ago, descending from a platypus-like monotreme; this ancestor was aquatic. The echidnas are named after Echidna, a creature from Greek mythology, half-woman, half-snake, as the animal was perceived to have qualities of both mammals and reptiles. Echidnas are medium-sized, solitary mammals spines. Superficially, they resemble the anteaters of South America and other spiny mammals such as hedgehogs and porcupines, they are black or brown in colour. There have been several reports of albino echidnas, their eyes pink and their spines white.

They have slender snouts that function as both mouth and nose. Like the platypus, they are equipped with electrosensors, but while the platypus has 40,000 electroreceptors on its bill, the long-beaked echidna has only 2,000 electroreceptors, the short-beaked echidna, which lives in a drier environment, has no more than 400 located at the tip of its snout, they have short, strong limbs with large claws, are powerful diggers. Their claws on their hind limbs are curved backwards to help aid in digging. Echidnas have tiny toothless jaws; the echidna feeds by tearing open soft logs and the like, using its long, sticky tongue, which protrudes from its snout, to collect prey. The ears are slits on the sides of their heads that are unseen, as they are blanketed by their spines; the external ear is created by a large cartilaginous funnel, deep in the muscle. At 33 °C, the echidna possess the second lowest active body temperature of all mammals, behind the platypus; the short-beaked echidna's diet consists of ants and termites, while the Zaglossus species eat worms and insect larvae.

The tongues of long-beaked echidnas have tiny spines that help them capture their prey. They have no teeth, break down their food by grinding it between the bottoms of their mouths and their tongues. Echidnas' faeces are cylindrical in shape. Echidnas do not tolerate extreme temperatures. Echidnas are found in woodlands, hiding under vegetation, roots or piles of debris, they sometimes use the burrows of animals such as wombats. Individual echidnas have mutually overlapping territories. Despite their appearance, echidnas are capable swimmers; when swimming, they expose their snout and some of their spines, are known to journey to water in order to groom and bathe themselves. Echidnas and the platypus are the only egg-laying mammals, known as monotremes; the average lifespan of an echidna in the wild is estimated around 14–16 years. When grown, a female can weigh up to 4.5 kilograms and a male can weigh up to 6 kilograms. The echidnas' sex can be inferred from their size; the reproductive organs differ, but both sexes have a single opening called a cloaca, which they use to urinate, release their faeces and to mate.

Male echidnas have non-venomous spurs on the hind feet. The neocortex makes up half compared to 80 % of a human brain. Due to their low metabolism and accompanying stress resistance, echidnas are long-lived for their size. Contrary to previous research, the echidna does enter REM sleep, but only when the ambient temperature is around 25 °C. At temperatures of 15 °C and 28 °C, REM sleep is suppressed; the female lays a single soft-shelled, leathery egg 22 days after mating, deposits it directly into her pouch. An egg is about 1.4 centimetres long. While hatching, the baby echidna opens the leather shell with a reptile-like egg tooth. Hatching takes place after 10 days of gestation; the mother digs a nursery burrow and deposits the young, returning every five days to suckle it until it is weaned at seven months. Puggles will stay within their mother's den for up to a year before leaving. Male echidnas have a four-headed penis. During mating, the heads on one side "shut down" and do not grow in size.

Each time it copulates, it alternates heads in sets of two. When not in use, the penis is retracted inside a preputial sac in the cloaca; the male echidna's penis is 7 centimetres long when erect, its shaft is covered with penile spines. These may be used to induce ovulation in the female, it is a challenge to study the echidna in its natural habitat and they show no interest in mating while in captivity. Therefore, no one has seen an echidna ejaculate. There have been previous attempts, trying to force the echidna to ejaculate through the use of electrically stimulated eja

Marcus Thornton is an American professional basketball player for Élan Chalon of the LNB Pro A. He was drafted by the Boston Celtics with the 45th overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft. Thornton completed his collegiate career at the College of William & Mary in 2015 and was named the 2014–15 Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Year. On February 25, 2015, Thornton surpassed 2,052 career points to overtake Chet Giermak's long-standing school record. Giermak's mark stood for 65 years – the longest-lasting NCAA Division I school record in the nation at the time it was broken. Thornton, a native of Upper Marlboro, fell in love with basketball at an early age and was considered talented throughout his youth, he attended Bishop McNamara High School, a perennial basketball power, not because of the sport but because of its academic reputation and its proximity to his home. He suited up for the varsity team as a sophomore but did not play because he was playing behind future NCAA Division I players Talib Zanna, Rashad Whack, Lawrence Smith, Jerome Couplin III, who went on to play football at William & Mary.

He made the most out of his two-year varsity career at Bishop McNamara. Thornton scored 1,254 points, set the school career scoring average at 19.9 points per game, three-point field goal percentage, three-pointers made. He was named the Gatorade Maryland State Player of the Year as a senior after averaging 23.4 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.7 steals per game, all while competing in the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference, the toughest high school basketball conference in the country. In his final game for Bishop McNamara, he scored a career school record 43 points. Thornton became the first William & Mary Tribe signee to be named a Gatorade state player of the year, he chose William & Mary over other schools because of its academic reputation and because of the attention then-assistant coach Jamion Christian paid him during recruitment. Although Christian ended up taking an assistant coaching job at VCU the spring before Thornton enrolled, it did not affect his decision to attend.

The 2011–12 season, his freshman year, saw the Tribe go 6–26 and finish third from the bottom of the CAA standings. He averaged 11.1 points, scoring 355 on the year, was named to the CAA All-Rookie Team. He increased his scoring to 18.8 points per game in 2012–13 while he began to establish himself as a player who could create his own shot late in a possession. Thornton was named Second Team All-CAA, becoming just the second W&M player to earn a second team honor in his sophomore year. After scoring 565 points that season, entered his junior year just 80 points shy of 1,000 for his career. Thornton junior season of 2013–14 was a historic one for both himself and the team; the Tribe recorded 20 wins, finished third in the CAA, advanced to their third CAA Tournament championship game in seven seasons. The Tribe lost by one point to Delaware, 75 to 74 missing out on the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance. Thornton's potential game-winning jump shot rattled off the back of the rim as time expired.

He was the tournament's high scorer with 59 points in three games and was named to the All-CAA Tournament Team along with teammate Brandon Britt. His 599 total points for the season rank fifth-most in school history and Thornton became just the second W&M player to be named NABC All-District 10 First Team in back to back seasons, he became the third W&M player to be named First Team All-CAA. Thornton ended the season with 1,519 career points, the most in school history for a player through his first three seasons. Entering his senior season, Thornton was selected by the league's coaches as the preseason CAA Player of the Year. Lindy's chose Thornton as the league's most versatile player and its top NBA prospect, he entered 2014–15 as the only returning All-CAA First Team player with a legitimate shot at breaking the school's scoring mark of 2,052. During the February 18, 2015 game against Northeastern, Thornton surpassed the 2,000-point mark and ended the game with 2,016; the W&M mark of 2,052, set by All-American Chet Giermak, was broken by Thornton one week in a game against Towson.

The school record had stood since 1950 and was the longest-standing Division I men's basketball school scoring record in the country. Thornton guided the Tribe to a 12–6 CAA record as they finished in a four-way tie for the regular season conference championship with James Madison, UNC Wilmington. On March 5, Thornton was named as the 2015 CAA Player of the Year, becoming the first W&M player to win it in the 32-year history of the award, he repeated as an All-CAA First Team selection, becoming just the second W&M player to earn the honor twice. For the second consecutive season, William & Mary earned a berth in the CAA Tournament championship game. However, for the first time in school history, the Tribe entered the tournament as the number one seed, they went on to lose the 2015 tournament's final game to Northeastern, 72 to 61, thus ending their chance at a bid into the NCAA Tournament. Thornton, was named to the CAA All-Tournament Team as well as being the tournament's leading scorer in both 2014 and 2015.

By owning the regular season tie-breakers over the other three co-champions, William & Mary earned the automatic National Invitation Tournament bid, making the 2015 appearance their third in school history. On March 17, 2015, in the NIT's first round, Thornton scored a game-high 23 points despite the Tribe's 70–67 loss to Tulsa. Thornton finished his collegiate career having amassed 2,178 points, which is

Hüseyin Mutlu Akpınar is a Turkish politician and the current Mayor of Karşıyaka Municipality since 2014. Akpınar was born on April 1969 in Ereğli, Konya, he had highschool education in Mersin. He graduated from the Faculty of Anadolu University. Akpınar worked as an executive in the private sector. Akpınar is doing a master's degree on Tax Law and Tax Law Applications at İzmir Katip Çelebi University. Akpınar engaged in politics by joining the Konak youth branch of the Republican People's Party in 1992, he took part in commissions and was a member of the district executive board between 1992 and 1995. He was elected as the head of the youth branch of Izmir city in 1996 and became a member of the Konak district executive board and deputy of the district chairman in 2000. Akpınar was elected as a delegate of the Grand Congress in 2003 and served as the city secretary at the city executive board of Izmir. In 2012 he was elected as a member of the city executive board member and served as a deputy of the city chairman, responsible for the non governmental organisations.

In the local elections of 30 March 2014, Akpınar was elected Mayor of Karşıyaka from the Republican People's Party, with a record majority of the popular vote. Akpınar is married to Zehra Akpınar and they have a daughter and a son. In his youth Akpınar played professional football. In 2013 he took part and played football in the 87 Minutes Project, organised for the successful resurrection of an historic soccer match played between F. C. Lailapas of Greece and Karşıyaka S. K. of Turkey. Akpınar is engaged to civil society and a member of the following NGOs: Karşıyaka Sports Club Atatürkist Thought Association Association of Social Democratic Municipalities, Executive Board Izmir Industry and Business Association Izmir Platform of the Civil Society Organisations, Advisory Board Emergency Health For All Association