Biologists have discovered an animal that was considered extinct

In Indonesia, scientists discovered Attenborough’s echidna, which was last seen more than 60 years ago. Scientists believe this type of mammal is extinct, CNN reports.

Attenborough’s long-billed viper, named after British naturalist David Attenborough, was caught on camera for the first time since 1961 on the last day of a four-week expedition led by Oxford University scientists.

At the end of a difficult journey, biologist James Campton found on the last memory card captured from more than 80 remote video cameras an image of a small creature walking through the forests.

Scientists have identified a rare species of mammal described as a “shy, nocturnal burrower that is difficult to find.”

Biologists do not yet know how large and stable the population of this species is.

The strange animal has the spine of a hedgehog, the snout of an anteater and the legs of a mole.

“The reason these animals are not like other mammals is that they belong to the monotreme group of oviparous animals, which separated from other mammals about 200 million years ago,” said biologist Campton.

Other species of echidna are found throughout Australia.

In addition to Attenborough’s echidna, scientists discovered new species of insects and frogs.

It is believed that these animals appeared about 200 million years ago, when dinosaurs lived on Earth. Of the four echidna species, three have beaks: the Attenborough echidna and the western echidna are critically endangered. Before this, the only evidence of this species of echidna was a specimen of a dead animal from the Natural History Museum of the Netherlands.

It was previously reported that 23 species of creatures have been declared extinct in the United States. Each of these species represents an irreversible loss to natural heritage and global biodiversity.

Giant tortoise from the extinct species found in the Galapagos