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

Helgen, Kristofer M.; Miguez, Roberto Portela; Kohen, James; Helgen, Lauren E.

doi:10.3897/zookeys.255.3774

Cited by 26 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…As noted earlier, a recent report has found that long-beaked echidnas may have been present in isolated parts of mainland Australia (the remote Kimberley region of Western Australia) as recently as the early 20th century (Helgen et al, 2012). We can only hope that a few are still there in an unexplored valley.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 89%

“…Large-bodied forms apparently disappeared from the Australian mainland along with other members of the Pleistocene megafauna, so Tachyglossidae in modern mainland Australia is represented only by the diminutive T. aculeatus (mean body weight of 3.7 kg). One recent report claims that long-beaked echidnas may have survived in the Kimberley region of north-west Australia until the early 20th century (Helgen et al, 2012). Whether the extinction of large tachyglossids in Australia occurred early or late and was due to human overhunting, climate change and concomitant alteration and reduction of habitat, or some other agency, remains controversial (Johnson, 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

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Brain and behaviour of living and extinct echidnas

Ashwell

Hardman

Musser

2014

Zoology

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 89%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Brain and behaviour of living and extinct echidnas

Ashwell

Hardman

Musser

2014

Zoology

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“…The fossil record of long‐beaked echidnas indicates a wide geographical distribution in the late Quaternary, with fossils recovered from across the Australian mainland (Price and Webb ; Helgen et al. ) and throughout New Guinea (Sutton et al. ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Habitat potentially suitable for supporting long‐beaked echidnas is present across northern Australia, and they could be introduced to that region (Helgen et al. ). Relaxation of hunting pressure would be critical for the establishment of introduced populations.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The fossil record of long-beaked echidnas indicates a wide geographical distribution in the late Quaternary, with fossils recovered from across the Australian mainland (Price and Webb 2006;Helgen et al 2012) and throughout New Guinea (Sutton et al 2009). Today, extant species of Zaglossus are reliably known only from New Guinea, where until recently they occurred over much of the island (Flannery 1995).…”

Section: Translocation Potential: Ecological Replacementmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Rewilding the tropics, and other conservation translocations strategies in the tropicalAsia‐Pacific region

Louys

Corlett

Price

et al. 2014

Ecology and Evolution

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Alarm over the prospects for survival of species in a rapidly changing world has encouraged discussion of translocation conservation strategies that move beyond the focus of ‘at-risk’ species. These approaches consider larger spatial and temporal scales than customary, with the aim of recreating functioning ecosystems through a combination of large-scale ecological restoration and species introductions. The term ‘rewilding’ has come to apply to this large-scale ecosystem restoration program. While reintroductions of species within their historical ranges have become standard conservation tools, introductions within known paleontological ranges—but outside historical ranges—are more controversial, as is the use of taxon substitutions for extinct species. Here, we consider possible conservation translocations for nine large-bodied taxa in tropical Asia-Pacific. We consider the entire spectrum of conservation translocation strategies as defined by the IUCN in addition to rewilding. The taxa considered are spread across diverse taxonomic and ecological spectra and all are listed as ‘endangered’ or ‘critically endangered’ by the IUCN in our region of study. They all have a written and fossil record that is sufficient to assess past changes in range, as well as ecological and environmental preferences, and the reasons for their decline, and they have all suffered massive range restrictions since the late Pleistocene. General principles, problems, and benefits of translocation strategies are reviewed as case studies. These allowed us to develop a conservation translocation matrix, with taxa scored for risk, benefit, and feasibility. Comparisons between taxa across this matrix indicated that orangutans, tapirs, Tasmanian devils, and perhaps tortoises are the most viable taxa for translocations. However, overall the case studies revealed a need for more data and research for all taxa, and their ecological and environmental needs. Rewilding the Asian-Pacific tropics remains a controversial conservation strategy, and would be difficult in what is largely a highly fragmented area geographically.

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Image‐based analyses from an online repository provide rich information on long‐term changes in morphology and human perceptions of rhinos

Wilson

Pashkevich

Rookmaaker³

et al. 2022

People and Nature

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1. Online image repositories can offer a freely accessible, information-rich and cost-effective alternative to museum collections for studying long-term changes in human interactions with nature and ecological and evolutionary change. The Rhino Resource Center (RRC) is one example, curated by experts and holding a collection of >4000 rhino images, including both artistic portrayals (1481-2021) and photographs (taken between 1862-2021), and representing a potentially valuable case study to investigate the utility of online image repositories for research into large vertebrates and, potentially, other well-recorded smaller taxa. The five extant species of rhino are all threatened by habitat loss and human hunting and therefore are an important focus for conservation research.2. We used the RRC for two separate research approaches: (i) assessing the changing representations and human interactions with rhinos using 3158 images (1531 pieces of artwork and 1627 photographs); and (ii) determining to what extent morphological data can be extracted from photographs to assess changes in horn length over time, using a sample size of 80 photographs of rhinos taken in profile view.3. We found that African rhino species have become more commonly depicted in images, compared to Asian rhino species over time. During the age of European imperialism (between the 16th and 20th centuries), rhinos were commonly portrayed as hunting trophies, but since the mid-20th century, they have been increasingly portrayed in a conservation context, reflecting a change in emphasis from a more to less consumptive relationship between humans and rhinos. Finally, we found evidence for declining horn length over time across species, perhaps related to selective pressure of hunting, and indicating a utility for image-based approaches in understanding societal perceptions of large vertebrates and trait evolution.

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

Cited by 26 publications

References 59 publications

Brain and behaviour of living and extinct echidnas

Brain and behaviour of living and extinct echidnas

Rewilding the tropics, and other conservation translocations strategies in the tropicalAsia‐Pacific region

Image‐based analyses from an online repository provide rich information on long‐term changes in morphology and human perceptions of rhinos

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