a kind of long-legged platypus thought to be extinct has been spotted in Indonesia

The long-beaked Attenborough echidna is a mammal of the monotreme order, very difficult to spot, to the point that its species had only been described once in 1961. It was thought to be extinct until recently. last days when it was rediscovered in the Cyclops Mountains, in Indonesia by a team of researchers.

Extremely difficult exploration conditions

Scientists from the University of Oxford had pulled out all the stops in the hope of seeing it: dozens of cameras placed at strategic points and configured to capture everything that moves. Despite this advanced equipment, it was not until the very last day of the expedition that it finally appeared on video. The biologist in charge of the mission, a certain James Kempton, told journalists his reaction: “I shouted ‘we found him, we found him!’ Then I walked out of my office into the living room and hugged the guys.”

We can understand his joy, because to carry out this expedition, James Kempton and his team had to survive malaria and brave an earthquake, leeches, snakes and venomous spiders, but also extreme heat, “extremely difficult, even sometimes fatal, conditions”.

If the long-beaked echidna is so difficult to spot, it is because it is a rather nocturnal animal. Shy and a homebody, he likes to stay in his burrow. It is part of one of the most bizarre orders of mammals alive. Like platypuses, another monotreme with otter fur, it lays eggs, which has set it apart from other mammals for hundreds of millions of years.

It remains to be seen for how long, because although its rediscovery is excellent news, its species remains “critically endangered”, according to the red list of threatened species. A list that continues to grow. Mission scientists hope their work will draw attention to the need to conserve the biodiversity of Indonesia’s Cyclops Mountains and, more generally, to preserve all species still alive.