Sir David's Long-beaked Echidna
Encyclopedia
Sir David's long-beaked echidna (Zaglossus attenboroughi), also known as Attenborough's long-beaked echidna or the Cyclops long-beaked echidna, is one of three species from the genus Zaglossus to occur in New Guinea
. It is named in honour of Sir David Attenborough
, the eminent naturalist
. It lives in the Cyclops Mountains
in Papua
province of Indonesia near the cities of Sentani and Jayapura
.
It is the smallest member of the genus, being closer in size to the short-beaked echidna
than are other members of the genus. The male is larger than the female, and can be differentiated by the spurs on its hind legs. The echidna is not a social animal, and comes together with its own kind only once a year, in July, to mate. The female will lay the eggs after about eight days, and the babies will stay in the mother's pouch for around eight weeks or until their spines develop.
The creature is nocturnal, and can roll up into a spiny ball when it feels threatened, somewhat in the manner of a hedgehog. The echidna weighs from 5 to 10 kg (11 to 22 lb), and is found all over New Guinea, although it is most common in the mountain ranges.
The echidna is endangered by hunting and habitat loss. In fact, in the 1900s, it was thought to be extinct until some of their "nose pokes" were found in the mountains of New Guinea. These "nose pokes" are very distinct and represent the echidna's feeding techniques. The diet of this hardy-built animal consists of earthworm
s, termite
s, insect larvae and ant
s.
The species was described from a single damaged specimen collected in the Dutch colonial era (c. 1961), and has apparently not been collected since then. Given the ongoing anthropogenic disturbance of the Cyclops Mountain forest habitat, this has raised concern that Z. attenboroughi populations may already be endangered or even locally extirpated. However, biological surveys of Papua province are notoriously incomplete; it is possible the animal still exists there or in related mountain ranges.
This animal is so high in the endangered-species list that locals are being educated on this creature and asked to stop their tradition of hunting and killing it and sharing it with rivals as a peace offering.
As reported on July 15, 2007, researchers from EDGE
visiting Papua's Cyclops Mountains had recently discovered burrows
and tracks thought to be those of Zaglossus attenboroughi. Furthermore, communication with local people revealed the species had perhaps been seen as recently as 2005.
Sir David's long-beaked echidna was identified as one of the top-10 "focal species" in 2007 by the Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered
(EDGE) project.
news.nationalgeographic.com
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
. It is named in honour of Sir David Attenborough
David Attenborough
Sir David Frederick Attenborough OM, CH, CVO, CBE, FRS, FZS, FSA is a British broadcaster and naturalist. His career as the face and voice of natural history programmes has endured for more than 50 years...
, the eminent naturalist
Naturalist
Naturalist may refer to:* Practitioner of natural history* Conservationist* Advocate of naturalism * Naturalist , autobiography-See also:* The American Naturalist, periodical* Naturalism...
. It lives in the Cyclops Mountains
Cyclops Mountains
The Cyclops Mountains are located to the west of Jayapura in Papua, Indonesia, and north of Lake Sentani.In Papua, it is also known as Dafonsoro or Dabonsolo mountain, and is namesake for football club Persidafon.-History:...
in Papua
Western New Guinea
West Papua informally refers to the Indonesian western half of the island of New Guinea and other smaller islands to its west. The region is officially administered as two provinces: Papua and West Papua. The eastern half of New Guinea is Papua New Guinea.The population of approximately 3 million...
province of Indonesia near the cities of Sentani and Jayapura
Jayapura
Jayapura City is the capital of Papua province, Indonesia, on the island of New Guinea. It is situated on Yos Sudarso Bay . Its approximate population in 2002 was 200,000....
.
It is the smallest member of the genus, being closer in size to the short-beaked echidna
Short-beaked Echidna
The short-beaked echidna , also known as the spiny anteater because of its diet of ants and termites, is one of four living species of echidna and the only member of the genus Tachyglossus...
than are other members of the genus. The male is larger than the female, and can be differentiated by the spurs on its hind legs. The echidna is not a social animal, and comes together with its own kind only once a year, in July, to mate. The female will lay the eggs after about eight days, and the babies will stay in the mother's pouch for around eight weeks or until their spines develop.
The creature is nocturnal, and can roll up into a spiny ball when it feels threatened, somewhat in the manner of a hedgehog. The echidna weighs from 5 to 10 kg (11 to 22 lb), and is found all over New Guinea, although it is most common in the mountain ranges.
The echidna is endangered by hunting and habitat loss. In fact, in the 1900s, it was thought to be extinct until some of their "nose pokes" were found in the mountains of New Guinea. These "nose pokes" are very distinct and represent the echidna's feeding techniques. The diet of this hardy-built animal consists of earthworm
Earthworm
Earthworm is the common name for the largest members of Oligochaeta in the phylum Annelida. In classical systems they were placed in the order Opisthopora, on the basis of the male pores opening posterior to the female pores, even though the internal male segments are anterior to the female...
s, termite
Termite
Termites are a group of eusocial insects that, until recently, were classified at the taxonomic rank of order Isoptera , but are now accepted as the epifamily Termitoidae, of the cockroach order Blattodea...
s, insect larvae and ant
Ant
Ants are social insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from wasp-like ancestors in the mid-Cretaceous period between 110 and 130 million years ago and diversified after the rise of flowering plants. More than...
s.
The species was described from a single damaged specimen collected in the Dutch colonial era (c. 1961), and has apparently not been collected since then. Given the ongoing anthropogenic disturbance of the Cyclops Mountain forest habitat, this has raised concern that Z. attenboroughi populations may already be endangered or even locally extirpated. However, biological surveys of Papua province are notoriously incomplete; it is possible the animal still exists there or in related mountain ranges.
This animal is so high in the endangered-species list that locals are being educated on this creature and asked to stop their tradition of hunting and killing it and sharing it with rivals as a peace offering.
As reported on July 15, 2007, researchers from EDGE
EDGE of Existence programme
The EDGE of Existence programme is a research and conservation initiative that focuses on species deemed to be the world’s most Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered...
visiting Papua's Cyclops Mountains had recently discovered burrows
Burrows
Burrows is a provincial electoral division in the Canadian province of Manitoba. It was created by redistribution in 1957, and formally came into existence in the provincial election of 1958. The riding is located in the northern part of Winnipeg....
and tracks thought to be those of Zaglossus attenboroughi. Furthermore, communication with local people revealed the species had perhaps been seen as recently as 2005.
Sir David's long-beaked echidna was identified as one of the top-10 "focal species" in 2007 by the Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered
EDGE Species
Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered species represent a disproportionate amount of unique evolutionary history. They have few close relatives and are often extremely unusual in the way they look, live and behave...
(EDGE) project.
External links
www.edgeofexistence.orgnews.nationalgeographic.com
- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature
- EDGE of Existence (Zaglossus spp.) – Saving the World's most Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered (EDGE) species