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solonavi 18 July 2007 Discovery 157 views One Comment Print This Post  Email This Post

scienceblogs.com

In May of this year, a team of experts from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) went on a one-month preliminary research expedition to the Cyclops mountain range in Papua on the island of New Guinea. They were searching for Attenborough’s long-beaked echidna, Zaglossus attenboroughi, which was thought have to be extinct for the past 50 years.

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To search for the rare echidna, the team travelled to remote regions of the jungle-enshrouded mountain range that had been unexplored for more than 45 years. While there, the scientists spoke with the local tribespeople, and seven of them claimed they had seen the echidna as recently as 2005. The locals even have their own name for the animal; the “Payangko”. Furthermore, one villager said he had eaten one and described it as “delicious”.

Attenborough’s long-beaked echidna is the smallest member of the genus, Zaglossus. This species has five claws on its feet (useful for digging), a long nose, and dense, very short fur. Even though their ecology remains mysterious, it is thought that they are similar in many ways to other species in this same genus. Thus, they are thought to breed in July, producing a clutch of 4-6 eggs, which are kept in a pouch. It is thought that this species of echidna inhabits alpine meadows as high as 4,000 meters above sea level, and also humid montane forests. When threatened, it is believed that this solitary species erects its spine-covered coat as protection from predators. They are probably nocturnal, foraging in the forest litter layer for earthworms and other soil-dwelling invertebrates. In fact, the team discovered these “nose pokes” — the holes in the ground that were made by the echidnas as they stuck their long noses into soil to feed.

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While on their expedition, the team ran across many more animals.

“In addition to Attenborough’s echidna we found an astonishingly vast array of biodiversity, some of which is highly unlikely to be known to science,” said Ballie.

Next year, the team will return to the Cyclops Mountains to carry out further research and to also install camera traps in order to photograph a living Attenborough’s long-beaked echidna.

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Live echidna species.