Western long-beaked echidna
| Western long-beaked echidna[1] | |
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| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Monotremata |
| Family: | Tachyglossidae |
| Genus: | Zaglossus |
| Species: | Z. bruijni |
| Binomial name | |
| Zaglossus bruijni (Peters and Doria, 1876) |
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| Western long-beaked echidna range (green — extant, orange — possibly extinct) |
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The western long-beaked echidna (Zaglossus bruijni) is one of the four extant echidnas and one of three species of Zaglossus that occur in New Guinea. As Tachyglossus bruijni, this is the type species of Zaglossus.
The western long-beaked echidna is present in New Guinea, in regions of elevation between 1,300 and 4,000 metres (4,300 and 13,000 ft); it is absent from the southern lowlands and north coast. Its preferred habitats are alpine meadow and humid montane forests. 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 16.5 kilograms (36 lb); 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[3].
The species is listed as endangered by the IUCN; numbers have decreased due to human activities reducing habitat and hunting. The long-beaked echidna is 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 February 2006, an expedition led by Conservation International reported finding a population of the mammals as part of what they described as a "lost world" of wildlife in the Foja Mountains of Papua Province, Indonesia.[4]
[edit] References
- ^ Groves, Colin P. (16 November 2005). "Order Monotremata (pp. 1-2)". In Wilson, Don E., and Reeder, DeeAnn M., eds. Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2 vols. (2142 pp.). p. 2. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494. http://www.bucknell.edu/msw3/browse.asp?id=10300017.
- ^ Leary, T., Seri, L., Flannery, T., Wright, D., Hamilton, S., Helgen, K., Singadan, R., Menzies, J., Allison, A., James, R., Aplin, K., Salas, L. & Dickman, C. (2008). Zaglossus bruijnii. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 28 December 2008. Database entry includes justification for why this species is listed as critically endangered
- ^ <http://rarestzoo.blogspot.com/2006/07/long-beaked-echidna.html>
- ^ ‘Lost World’ of wildlife found - World environment - MSNBC.com
[edit] Further reading
- Augee, M and Gooden, B. 1993. Echidnas of Australia and New Guinea. Australian National History Press ISBN 978-0-86840-046-4
- Flannery, T.F. and Groves, C.P. 1998 A revision of the genus Zaglossus (Monotremata, Tachyglossidae), with description of new species and subspecies. Mammalia, 62(3): 367-396
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