David Attenborough 'delighted' over sighting of 'extinct' animal named after him

838     0
The animal has been named after Sir David Attenborough (Image: Dave Benett/Getty Images)
The animal has been named after Sir David Attenborough (Image: Dave Benett/Getty Images)

An animal named after Sir David Attenborough that was thought to be extinct has been spotted in a remote mountain range.

Researchers in Indonesia filmed four short clips of the long-beaked echidna. Dubbed “living fossils”, they are thought to have emerged 200 million years ago, when dinosaurs roamed the Earth.

Until now, the only evidence that this particular species – Zaglossus attenboroughi – had ever existed was a decades-old museum specimen of a dead animal.

David Attenborough 'delighted' over sighting of 'extinct' animal named after him eiqrdiuhixzinvThe animal has been found not be extinct (Expedition Cyclops)

Dr James Kempton, a biologist from Oxford University, led the four week expedition to unexplored stretches of a rainforest in the Cyclops Mountains. It was there, 6,561ft above sea level, that they captured footage of the Attenborough echidna. Dr Kempton said: “The whole team was euphoric.”

He added that Sir David, 97, was “absolutely delighted” to hear about the sighting. The multi-national team also discovered new species of insects and frogs during the expedition.

Furious chimp launches bottle at girl filming him leaving her bleeding at zooFurious chimp launches bottle at girl filming him leaving her bleeding at zoo

Stephen White

Print page

Comments:

comments powered by Disqus