An expedition in Indonesia’s province of Papua has resulted in the rediscovery of a critically endangered egg-laying mammal that hasn’t been seen in over 60 years. The expedition, called Expedition Cyclops, aimed to explore the Cyclops Mountains and highlight the biodiversity in the region. The Attenborough’s long-beaked echidna, a peculiar creature covered in quills with powerful digging feet, was found during the nine-week expedition, which faced challenges such as malaria, earthquakes, and even a student researcher getting a leech stuck in their eye for 33 hours.
The Cyclops Mountains, spanning less than 90 square miles, have been plagued by illegal hunting for years. It is the sole habitat for the critically endangered Attenborough’s long-beaked echidna, listed on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species. The team, led by James Kempton from Oxford, utilized over 30 camera traps to locate the echidna, suspecting its presence due to holes in the ground used for foraging. The moment of discovery, captured on the final day of the expedition, brought both relief and euphoria to the team.
Despite the significant find, Kempton believes that the echidna’s critically endangered status will persist for a long time as it isn’t protected under Indonesian law. To address this, Expedition Cyclops worked closely with over six local partners, including Indigenous groups, students, and Indonesian government organizations. Kempton hopes that the discovery will raise funds for research and conservation efforts in the Cyclops Mountains.
The Attenborough’s long-beaked echidna is one of five guardians of a unique evolutionary history dating back over 200 million years. Echidnas, belonging to the monotreme group, are among the few mammals that lay eggs instead of giving birth to live young. With only five existing species of monotremes, the potential extinction of this branch of the evolutionary tree would be a significant loss.
Expedition Cyclops also aimed to investigate the origins of biodiversity in the Cyclops Mountains. As a result, the team discovered hundreds of new insect species, at least two new frog species, and even a new land and tree-dwelling shrimp species. Kempton attributes the region’s remarkable biodiversity to the Cyclops Mountains’ unique geologic origins. These mountains were once islands in the Pacific Ocean that collided with the mainland of New Guinea as the continents drifted together.
In addition to the rediscovery of the Attenborough’s long-beaked echidna, Expedition Cyclops also brought back Mayr’s honeyeater, a bird species not seen for 15 years. This expedition sheds light on the importance of preserving the fragile evolutionary history and biodiversity found in the Cyclops Mountains.
