Long-beaked echidna

The long-beaked echidna is larger-bodied than the short-beaked and has fewer, shorter spines scattered among its coarse hairs. In comparison to short-beaked echidnas, long-beaked echidna spines are not as heavily rooted, and so they rip out easier. Adult long-beaked echidnas weigh approximately 6.5 kg and juveniles approximately 4.3 kg. Z. attenboroughi is the smallest of the 3 species. The snout is two-thirds of the head's length and curves slightly downward. Females are generally longer, heavier and have longer beaks than their male counterparts. None of these features can determine age, and they are also not reliable for determining sex. Echidna necks are not prominent. Long beaked echidnas have keratinous spines on the bottom of their tongue that they use to grind and digest their prey. Echidnas are of few mammals that do not have a mandibular meniscus, likely because they use their tongue and palate to grind food, rather than their jaw. Like the other species of echidna, long-beaked echidnas have spurs on their hind legs. These spurs are vestigial; part of a repressed venom system akin to the one on the platypus. The breeding female develops a temporary abdominal brood patch, in which her egg is incubated and in which the newborn young (or puggle) remains in safety as it feeds and develops. Most of the development occurs after birth in the mothers pouch, much like marsupials. The long-beaked echidna has a short weaning period, approximately 12 days. During this time milk is their only source of nutrition and protection for the hatchlings; they are altricial and immunologically naive. Although laying eggs that are incubated outside of the body is primarily a reptilian trait, all monotremes are considered mammals because they lactate to feed their young. Additionally, the sex of the young cannot be determined based on physical traits. The long-beaked echidna's limb posture is sprawled, similar to extant reptiles like lizards and crocodilians. Although the stances between the animal groups are similar, the way the limbs move are very different between the clades. The echidna swings its limbs at a 45 degree angle while a lizard's is more horizontal. They walk with two legs on one side of the body moving in unison. The long-beaked echidna's walk presents multiple differences from a lizard's. An echidna's walking pattern is more upright than a lizard's, this represents a pattern closer to a parasagittal kind of therian. Echidnas and therians both have a dynamic equilibration rather than a static one. The beak of long beaked echidnas are more slender and curved downward than those of small-beaked echidnas. The cranium of short beaked echidnas are shorter and rounder than long-beaked echidnas. Long beaked echidnas also have a more prominent occipital condyle, allowing for a wider range of head movements, but reducing the ability to lift a pry things with their beak. Long beaked echidnas have a longer lower jaw than short beaked echidnas. All living monotremes have 7 cervical vertebrates. Long beaked echidnas have 17 thoracic vertebrae with associated ribs, four lumbar vertebrae, three vertebrae fused to form the sacrum, and 11 caudal vertebrae. The iliac crest (bony ridge of the hip bone) is more pointed in long beaked echidnas than in short beaked echidnas. Only males in both long and short beaked echidnas have an os calcaris bone, the bone that the spurs rest on. This is likely the reason why the female spurs disappear in adulthood. ==Behavior==

Little is known about the life of these rarely seen animals, but it is believed to have habits similar to those of the short-beaked echidna; unlike them, however, the long-beaked echidnas feed primarily on earthworms rather than ants, as they live in much more humid environments than the smaller Tachyglossus echidna. Their cognitive behaviors and the complexity of these behaviors show many similarities with large-brained placentals. These echidnas are primarily nocturnal; foraging for its insect food on the forest floor and in rotting logs with their snout and forelimbs. The beaks of the attenboroughi species can leave foraging holes up to 14.8 cm deep and 6.6 cm wide. They use their forelimbs by cracking open logs and feeding on wood-boring vertebrates. These animals are not usually found foraging in the daylight. Their foraging behaviors are most easily found after rainfall. They use electroreception along with highly specialized olfactory pathways to find prey. It is likely that long-beaked echidnas have a stronger electroreception sense than short-beaked echidnas. However, they have a very poor sense of hearing. The long-beaked echidna establish and are commonly found in dens or burrows. Their dens are most often underground, but occasionally they will burrow at a cliff face or under deep vegetation. The latter dens are most often occupied by juveniles. Their burrows were approximately 2.7 meters long and 0.48 meters underground. They are often found on slopes, most likely to prevent flood runoff. They usually move to a different den every night and rarely return to the same den, except in some cases many years later. Burrows in use often have footprints surrounding them, accompanied by a strong scent of echidna waste. == Distribution and habitat ==

Out of all the monotremes, the long-beaked echidnas are the least studied. This is most likely because they are nocturnal, elusive, and stay in areas with little human disturbance. Additionally, they have a smaller population than short beaked echidnas, possibly because the drying of the Australian climate led to the reduction of the food source of larger echidnas. Their home-range can range from 10-168 hectares, with an average of 39 hectares. The 3 species are located in different areas of New Guinea. The Eastern Long beaked echidna is found in Central Cordillera and Huon Peninsula. The Western long beaked echidna is located in Vogelkop region of western New Guinea, including the Arfak, Tamrau, Fak Fak, and (possibly) Charles Louis Mountain ranges as well as the island of Salawati. The attenboroughi species, often referred to as the cyclops long beaked echidna, live near Jayapura in the Cyclops Mountains. ==Taxonomy and naming==

Zaglossus attenboroughi • Habitat: known only from the Cyclops Mountains of Jayapura Regency, Papua, Indonesia • Period: Late Pleistocene-Holocene Zaglossus bartoni • Period: Holocene Zaglossus bruijni • Habitat: highland forests of Southwest Papua and West Papua, Indonesia • Period: Holocene == Conservation status ==

In November 2023, a Zaglossus attenboroughi was first recorded alive on video in Indonesia's Cyclops Mountains, the first confirmed sightings of an individual in 62 years. There are currently 3 captive long-beaked echidnas in zoos worldwide. The long-beaked echidna species are considerably more at risk than short-beaked echidnas. All species of long-beaked echidnas are continuously decreasing according to the IUCNs Red List. Z. attenboroughi • listed as critically endangered. There is little information on wild predators of long-beaked echidnas. == Cultural references ==

In many areas where long-beaked echidnas live, natives believe children under 10 years of age cannot eat echidna meat, or else their physical development will be negatively affected. Villagers of the cyclops mountains refer to long beaked echidnas as "payanko". In Dormena, sharing a meal of echidna meat can bring peace between conflicting people. In Wambena, small-time criminals are either fined or tasked with finding an echidna. Villagers describe echidna meat as "greasy and tasty". ==See also==