Western long-billed hedgehog

Western long-billed hedgehog
Western long-billed hedgehog ( Zaglossus bruijni )
Systematics
Class : Mammals (mammalia) Subclass : Ursammal (Protheria) Order : Monotremes (monotremes) Family : Echidna (Tachyglossidae) Genre : Long-billed hedgehog ( Zaglossus ) Type : Western long-billed hedgehog
Scientific name
Zaglossus bruijni
( Peters & Doria , 1876)

Distribution area of ​​the western long-billed hedgehog
red = extinct
green = native

The western long-billed hedgehog ( Zaglossus bruijni ) is the type species of the genus Zaglossus , and one of the three species that occur on the island of New Guinea . It may also be common in the Northwest Australian Kimberley region. This species is also known fossil from Australia.

features

The western long-billed hedgehog lives in New Guinea at altitudes between 1300 and 4000 meters, in the southern lowlands and on the northern coast of New Guinea this species does not occur. The preferred habitats of this species are alpine meadows and moist mountain forests. In contrast to the short-billed hedgehog , this species eats earthworms. The western long-billed hedgehog can weigh up to 16.5 kg. The snout is longer than that of a short-billed hedgehog and is curved downwards, the thorns cannot be distinguished from the long fur. It can be distinguished from the other species by the number of claws on the front and rear paws; he has three (rarely four) claws on each paw.

threat

The number of western long-billed hedgehogs has decreased significantly due to habitat destruction and human hunting. The western long-billed hedgehog is a delicacy and although hunting in this species has been banned by the governments of Indonesia and Papua New Guinea , traditional hunting is still allowed.

The western long-beaked echidna is by the IUCN as endangered (endangered) list.

In December 2005 an expedition led by Conservation International was able to collect several specimens of this population of mammals in the Foja Mountains of the Papua Province in Indonesia .

The last European long-billed hedgehog died in 2013. In Germany only the Berlin Zoo kept this species of long-billed hedgehog.

Web links

Commons : Western long-billed hedgehog ( Zaglossus bruijni )  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Zaglossus bruijnii inthe IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2012.2. Posted by: Leary, T., Seri, L., Flannery, T., Wright, D., Hamilton, S., Helgen, K., Singadan, R., Menzies, J., Allison, A., James, R., Aplin, K., Salas, L. & Dickman, C, 2008. Retrieved November 11, 2012.

literature

• Tim F. Flannery, Colin P. Groves: A revision of the genus Zaglossus (Monotremata, Tachyglossidae), with description of new species and subspecies . Mammalia 62 (3): 367–396, 1998, online version ( Memento from May 15, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF, English; 1.8 MB).
• Colin P. Groves: Zaglossus bruijni. In: DE Wilson and DM Reeder (eds.): Mammal Species of the World. 3rd Edition, Volume 1, Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore 2005, ISBN 0-8018-8221-4 .
• Michael L. Augee, Brett Gooden: Echidnas of Australia and New Guinea. New South Wales University Press, Kensington, NSW, 1993, ISBN 978-0-86840-046-4 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Helgen KM et al. 2012. Twentieth century occurrence of the Long-Beaked Echidna Zaglossus bruijnii in the Kimberley region of Australia . ZooKeys 255: 103-132; doi: 10.3897 / zookeys.255.3774
2. ↑ MSNBC: 'Lost World' of wildlife found in Indonesia
3. ^ Western long-beaked hedgehog on Zootierliste.de; accessed on June 8, 2015