Long-beaked echidna
| Long-beaked echidnas[1] Temporal range: Miocene to present
| |
|---|---|
| Western long-beaked echidna (Zaglossus bruijni) | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Synapsida |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Monotremata |
| Family: | Tachyglossidae |
| Genus: | Zaglossus Gill, 1877 |
| Type species | |
| Zaglossus bruijni Peters and Doria, 1876
| |
| Species | |
|
Zaglossus attenboroughi | |
The long-beaked echidnas make up one of the two genera (Genus Zaglossus) of echidna. Echidna is a spiny monotreme that lives in New Guinea. There are three living species, and two extinct ones.
Echidnas are one of only two types of living mammals that lay eggs.
Species
Zaglossus attenboroughi
- Habitat: regions of New Guinea at higher elevation than highland forests
- Era: the present
- Status: Endangered
Remarks: Species described from one sample only. May be endangered, or locally extinct. See Sir David's Long-beaked Echidna
Zaglossus bartoni
- Habitat:on the central cordillera between the Paniai Lakes and the Nanneau Range, as well as the Huon Peninsula
- Era: the present
- Status: Endangered
Remarks: see Eastern Long-beaked Echidna
Zaglossus bruijni
- Habitat: highland forests of New Guinea
- Era: the present
- Status: Endangered
Remarks: see Western Long-beaked Echidna
Zaglossus hacketti
- Habitat: Western Australia
- Era: Upper Pleistocene
Remarks: This species is known only from a few bones. At a metre long, it was huge for an echidna and for monotremes in general.
Zaglossus robustus
- Habitat: Tasmania
- Era: Pleistocene
Remarks: This species is known from a fossil skull about 65 cm long.
References
- ↑ Groves, C.P. (2005). "Order Monotremata". In Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 1–2. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
- 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
Other websites
- EDGE of Existence (Zaglossus spp.) Archived 2007-12-25 at the Wayback Machine - Saving the World's most Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered (EDGE) species
- Long-beaked echidna from ARKive
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