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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.
The Ornithorhynchidae / ɔːr ˌ n ɪ θ ə ˈ r ɪ ŋ k ɪ d iː / are one of the two extant families in the order Monotremata, and contain the platypus and its extinct relatives. The other family is the Tachyglossidae, or echidnas.
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.
Genus Tachyglossus (short-beaked echidna) Short-beaked echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus) Genus Zaglossus (long-beaked echidnas) Western long-beaked echidna (Zaglossus bruijnii) Eastern long-beaked echidna (Zaglossus bartoni) Sir David's long-beaked echidna (Zaglossus attenboroughi)
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.
In 2007, Attenborough's long-beaked echidna was identified as one of the top-10 "focal species" by the Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered (EDGE) project. [10] As of 2017, this species of echidna was among the 25 "most wanted lost" species which are the focus of Re:wild's "Search for Lost Species" initiative. [11]
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.