HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The western long-beaked echidna (''Zaglossus bruijnii'') is one of the four
extant Extant is the opposite of the word extinct. It may refer to: * Extant hereditary titles * Extant literature, surviving literature, such as ''Beowulf'', the oldest extant manuscript written in English * Extant taxon, a taxon which is not extinct, ...
echidnas and one of three species of ''
Zaglossus The long-beaked echidnas (genus ''Zaglossus'') make up one of the two extant genus, genera of echidnas, spiny monotremes that live in New Guinea; the other being the short-beaked echidna. There are three living species and one extinct species in ...
'' that occurs in New Guinea. Originally described as ''Tachyglossus bruijnii'', this is the type species of ''Zaglossus''.


Description

The western long-beaked echidna is an egg-laying mammal. Unlike the short-beaked echidna, which eats ants and termites, the long-beaked species eats earthworms. The long-beaked echidna is also larger than the short-beaked species, reaching up to ; the snout is longer and turns downward; and the spines are almost indistinguishable from the long fur. It is distinguished from the other ''Zaglossus'' species by the number of claws on the fore and hind feet: three (rarely four). It is the largest extant monotreme.


Distribution and habitat

The species is found in the Bird's Head Peninsula and
Foja Mountains The Foja Mountains (Foja Range, Foya Mountains) ( id, Pegunungan Foja) are located just north of the Mamberamo river basin in Papua, Indonesia. The mountains rise to , and have 3,000 square kilometers of old growth tropical rainforest in the inte ...
of West Papua and Papua provinces, Indonesia, respectively, in regions of elevation between ; it is absent from the southern lowlands and north coast. Its preferred habitats are
alpine meadow Alpine tundra is a type of natural region or biome that does not contain trees because it is at high elevation, with an associated harsh climate. As the latitude of a location approaches the poles, the threshold elevation for alpine tundra gets ...
and humid montane forests.


Kimberley specimen

The Tring Collection of the British Museum of Natural History includes a western long-beaked echidna, with a collection label noting its collection by
John T. Tunney John Thomas Tunney (1870–1929) was a naturalist and collector of animal specimens, active in the west and north of Australia. Biography Tunney was born 11 October 1870 in Kojonup, Western Australia and educated in Albany, Western Australia, A ...
in 1901. Curiously, the location of collection is noted as Mount Anderson, in the
Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia * Kimberley (Western Australia) ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Kimberley * Kimberley Warm Springs, Tasmania * Kimberley, Tasmania a small town * County of Kimberley, a ...
region of north-west Australia. However, this species is otherwise thought to be extinct for millennia in Australia; the only other specimens of ''Zaglossus'' from Australia are fossils dated to the Pleistocene period. It was presumed that the specimen was in fact collected from elsewhere and inadvertently attached to a Tunney collection label. Thus, the specimen received no further attention for many years. A study by Helgen ''et al.'' (2012) examined the specimen and considered various aspects including the circumstantial improbability of a collection label misassignment, the uniqueness of
ectoparasite Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson has ...
s found on the specimen, the similarity of some Kimberly forests to known habitat in New Guinea, an indigenous
cave painting In archaeology, Cave paintings are a type of parietal art (which category also includes petroglyphs, or engravings), found on the wall or ceilings of caves. The term usually implies prehistoric origin, and the oldest known are more than 40,000 ye ...
appearing to depict a long-beaked echidna, and the testimony of an Aboriginal elder. The study concludes that the specimen likely was collected in Australia as stated on the label. The researchers argue that the species ought to be recognised in the state's fauna as persisting into the modern era, and could potentially still be extant in poorly surveyed forests of north-western Australia; if locally extinct, reintroduction of this critically endangered species would be worth consideration. Burbidge (2017) disputes this conclusion, arguing against each line of evidence, and concluding that the specimen is likely from New Guinea but assigned an incorrect label.


Conservation

The species is listed as Critically Endangered by the
IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...
; numbers have decreased due to human activities including habitat loss and hunting. The long-beaked echidna is considered a delicacy, and although commercial hunting of the species has been banned by the Indonesian and Papua New Guinean governments, traditional hunting is permitted. In January 2013, an expedition led by
Conservation International Conservation International (CI) is an American nonprofit environmental organization headquartered in Crystal City, Arlington, Virginia. CI's work focuses on science, policy and partnership with businesses, governments and communities. The organ ...
reported finding a population of the mammals as part of what they described as a "lost world" of wildlife in the
Foja Mountains The Foja Mountains (Foja Range, Foya Mountains) ( id, Pegunungan Foja) are located just north of the Mamberamo river basin in Papua, Indonesia. The mountains rise to , and have 3,000 square kilometers of old growth tropical rainforest in the inte ...
of Papua Province, Indonesia.‘Lost World’ of wildlife found - World environment - nbcnews.com
/ref>


References


Further reading

* Augee, M and Gooden, B. 1993. ''Echidnas of Australia and New Guinea''. Australian National History Press * {{Taxonbar, from=Q635949 Monotremes of New Guinea Endemic fauna of New Guinea Mammals of Western New Guinea Critically endangered fauna of Oceania Mammals described in 1876 Taxa named by Wilhelm Peters Taxa named by Giacomo Doria