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The short-beaked echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus), also called the short-nosed echidna, is one of four living species of echidna, and the only member of the genus Tachyglossus. It is covered in fur and spines and has a distinctive snout and a specialised tongue , which it uses to catch its insect prey at a great speed.
The species are Western long-beaked echidna (Z. bruijni), of the highland forests; Sir David's long-beaked echidna (Z. attenboroughi), discovered by Western science in 1961 (described in 1998) and preferring a still higher habitat; [37] Eastern long-beaked echidna (Z. bartoni), of which four distinct subspecies have been identified.
[dubious – discuss] The species has five claws on each foot like the eastern long-beaked echidna, and has short, very fine and dense fur, reflecting its mountain-top habitat. [5] The diet of Attenborough's long-beaked echidna consists primarily of earthworms, in contrast to the termites and ants preferred by the short-beaked echidna. [5]
The animal is currently classified as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The footage of the echidna was captured in the last images on the team’s final memory card.
The short-beaked echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus) is found throughout the ecoregion. The platypus ( Ornithorhynchus anatinus ) no longer lives on the South Australian mainland. [ 5 ] The platypus was introduced to Flinders-Chase National Park on Kangaroo Island between 1928 and 1946, and is currently established on the western portion of the ...
The Attenborough’s long-beaked echidna is also one of five guardians of a highly unique and fragile evolutionary history that dates back over 200 million years, said Kempton.
Attenborough's long-beaked echidna, named for the famed biologist David Attenborough, is one of only five living species of monotremes, a group of egg-laying mammals that includes the platypus.
For a species to be considered endangered by the IUCN it must meet certain quantitative criteria which are designed to classify taxa facing "a very high risk of extinction". An even higher risk is faced by critically endangered species, which meet the quantitative criteria for endangered species. Critically endangered plants are listed ...