A living specimen of the animal named after British naturalist Sir David Attenborough was photographed and videotaped during an expedition to the Giant Mountains in the Indonesian province of Papua.
The species of hedgehog-like mammal that reproduces by eggs was previously known from a single individual, discovered in 1961 on the island of New Guinea. Therefore, the Attenborough’s anteater (Zaglossus attenboroughi) has been practically registered as an extinct species and has been included in the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), MTI reports.
Like anteaters, this animal also belongs to the order Cloaca, a branch of evolution that separated from other mammals about 200 million years ago. James Compton, a leading expert on the expedition at Oxford University, said the animal had hedgehog-like stingers, an elongated beak-like mouth, and mole-like limbs.
He added that about 80 cameras were deployed to photograph Attenborough’s anteater, but during the four weeks of the expedition, they were unsuccessful, while the animal appeared in three shots on the last day of photos.
Compton stressed that the success of the expedition was greatly contributed by the help of local residents, who led their team to places that people may have never visited before.
