An animal specimen discovered in the basement of the Natural History Museum in London has raised hopes that a species long thought to have been extinct in Australia may still be living in the remote outback.
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| An echidna in the wild in New Guinea (Tim Laman) |
The long-beaked echidna looks like a cross between a platypus and a porcupine, but with the elongated snout of an anteater. It is one of just five mammal species on Earth that lays eggs.
It was thought that the last few animals were living in the rainforests of New Guinea where hunting has driven them to the brink of extinction.
But a surprise discovery in the museum's huge collection of preserved animals has raised the tantalising possibility that they have been living in Australia's remote North-West all along.
