Attenborough’s long-beaked echidna

About Attenborough’s long-beaked echidna

• It is also known as Sir David’s long-beaked echidna or the Cyclops long-beaked echidna.
• It is one of three species from the genus Zaglossus that inhabits the island of New Guinea.
• It is named in honour of naturalist Sir David Attenborough. 
• Habitat: It lives in the Cyclops Mountains, which are near the cities of Sentani and Jayapura in the Indonesian province of Papua.
• It is the smallest echidna species.
• Echidnas are nocturnal and shy, making them difficult to find at the best of times.
• It appears so unlike other mammals because it is a member of the monotremes — an egg-laying group that separated from the rest of the mammal tree-of-life about 200 million years ago.
• Conservation status
  • IUCN Red List: Critically Endangered
  • CITES : Appendix II

Q1) What is echidna?

It is a type of monotreme, which is a group of egg-laying mammals. There are four species of echidnas, and they are native to Australia and New Guinea. They are also known as spiny anteaters. The four species are the short-beaked echidna (found in Australia and New Guinea) and three species of long-beaked echidnas (found in New Guinea).

Source: Elusive Attenborough echidna rediscovered in Indonesia

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