Researchers rediscover egg-Laying mammal – Attenborough’s Long Beaked Echidna – after 60 years.
In 1961, scientists recorded their first and only sighting of a unique, egg-laying mammal called Attenborough’s Long Beaked Echidna in the forests of New Guinea. That was until 2019 when an international team of scientists traveled to New Guinea’s Cyclops Mountains on an expedition that led to the rediscovery of this rare creature after over 60 years.
Attenborough’s Long Beaked Echidna is an egg-laying mammal belonging to a special group called monotremes, which only includes five remaining species like the platypus. It gets its name from famous naturalist Sir David Attenborough.
Attenborough’s Long Beaked Echidna has a beak like an anteater, spines like a hedgehog, and feet like a mole. They use their beaks to slurp up insects and worms from the forest floor and lay eggs instead of giving birth to live young like most mammals.
Attenborough’s Long Beaked Echidna is culturally important to the Indigenous villages near the Cyclops Mountains. According to their traditions, if two conflicting groups were able to find an echidna in the mountains and a rare marlin fish from the ocean, their conflict would be considered resolved. Finding both creatures represents unity and harmony being restored in the villagers’ worldview.
When scientists set out camera traps in the mountain forests in 2019, they went weeks without catching sight of Attenborough’s Long Beaked Echidna. But astonishingly, on the very last day, one of their cameras finally spotted an echidna walking through the undergrowth – the first scientific evidence of the animal in over 60 years. An expert was able to confirm it was indeed Attenborough’s long-beaked echidna based on its looks and genetics.
See also: Rediscovery of Black Naped Pheasant Pigeon.
Beyond the echidna, the team discovered many more new and rare species that were unknown to science before. Seventy types of frogs, lizards, and worm-like amphibians were documented. Thirty-five mammal species were also identified, ranging from cute dwarf wallabies to giant rats.
Most shockingly, they found an entirely new genus of shrimp living on the humid rainforest floor. These tiny eyeless shrimp represented a new branch of organisms that apparently evolved to complete their life cycle entirely on land.
The discovery of these new species spotlights that New Guinea’s mountains likely contain even more unusual life forms still awaiting discovery. Scientists have yet to formally describe over 80% of the island’s mammals as new efforts try to explore untouched parts of the remote highland forests.
The rare species seen thriving in these mountains highlights the need to protect places like the Cyclops range. The Indigenous communities living there show it’s possible to sustain both ecological and cultural riches over generations when people and nature work hand-in-hand. As scientists learn more about New Guinea’s unique species through expeditions like this one, they hope it brings more awareness to conserve these areas by combining local Indigenous knowledge and scientific approaches.
This rediscovered egg-laying oddity and other hidden marvels of New Guinea’s highlands remind us our planet still holds wonderful mysteries worth protecting for generations to come.
