Twentieth century occurrence of the Long-Beaked Echidna Zaglossus bruijnii in the Kimberley region of Australia

Kristofer M Helgen,Lauren Helgen,James Kohen,Roberto Portela Miguez

doi:10.3897/zookeys.255.3774

Abstract

The monotreme genus Zaglossus, the largest egg-laying mammal, comprises several endangered taxa today known only from New Guinea. Zaglossus is considered to be extinct in Australia, where its apparent occurrence (in addition to the large echidna genus Megalibgwilia) is recorded by Pleistocene fossil remains, as well as from convincing representations in Aboriginal rock art from Arnhem Land (Northern Territory). Here we report on the existence and history of a well documented but previously overlooked museum specimen (skin and skull) of the Western Long-Beaked Echidna (Zaglossus bruijnii) collected by John T. Tunney at Mount Anderson in the West Kimberley region of northern Western Australia in 1901, now deposited in the Natural History Museum, London. Possible accounts from living memory of Zaglossus are provided by Aboriginal inhabitants from Kununurra in the East Kimberley. We conclude that, like Tachyglossus, Zaglossus is part of the modern fauna of the Kimberley region of Western Australia, where it apparently survived as a rare element into the twentieth century, and may still survive.

Highlights

The egg-laying mammals, or monotremes (Monotremata), are the sister group to all other extant mammals and are known as living animals only from the Australian continent, incorporating the modern landmasses of Tasmania, Australia, and New Guinea, which share a continental shelf that is periodically united during times of lowered sea levels as a single continuous landmass (“Sahul” or “Meganesia”)
The tags record the collection of this specimen from Mount Anderson, an inland locality in the West Kimberley region of north-western Western Australia, on 20 November 1901 (Figure 7)
We confidently identify the Kimberley specimen of Zaglossus as the Western LongBeaked Echidna, Z. bruijnii, otherwise known only from the western portion of the island of New Guinea, which it matches in size, cranial features, claw number, and pelage features

Summary

Introduction

The egg-laying mammals, or monotremes (Monotremata), are the sister group to all other extant mammals and are known as living animals only from the Australian continent, incorporating the modern landmasses of Tasmania, Australia, and New Guinea, which share a continental shelf that is periodically united during times of lowered sea levels as a single continuous landmass (“Sahul” or “Meganesia”). (The Tunney collection was transferred, along with the rest of Rothschild’s mammal collections, from Tring to the Natural History Museum, London, in 1939 following Rothschild’s death in 1937.) One of the most important Tunney specimens that was never critically reported is what appears to be a north-western Australian specimen of Zaglossus collected in 1901, which we discuss here. This specimen challenges current thinking about the timing of extinction of the genus in Australia and offers new insight into northern Australian biogeography and the ecology of this critically endangered monotreme lineage

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Discussion