| bothriocroton oudemansi (neumann, 1910) n. comb. (acari: ixodida: ixodidae), an ectoparasite of the western long-beaked echidna in papua new guinea: redescription of the male and first description of the female and nymph. | specimens of amblyomma oudemansi (neumann, 1910) were collected in papua new guinea from an endangered monotreme, zaglossus bruijni (peters & doria), the western long-beaked echidna. these ticks were compared morphologically and molecularly with species formerly assigned to aponomma neumann, 1899 (now included in bothriocroton keirans, king, & sharrad, 1994 or amblyomma koch, 1844), and a phylogeny was generated. based on our results, we reassign this tick to bothriocroton, as b. oudemansi (neum ... | 2008 | 18210218 |
| twentieth century occurrence of the long-beaked echidna zaglossus bruijnii in the kimberley region of australia. | the monotreme genus zaglossus, the largest egg-laying mammal, comprises several endangered taxa today known only from new guinea. zaglossus is considered to be extinct in australia, where its apparent occurrence (in addition to the large echidna genus megalibgwilia) is recorded by pleistocene fossil remains, as well as from convincing representations in aboriginal rock art from arnhem land (northern territory). here we report on the existence and history of a well documented but previously overl ... | 2012 | 23459668 |
| 4-o-acetyl-sialic acid (neu4,5ac2) in acidic milk oligosaccharides of the platypus (ornithorhynchus anatinus) and its evolutionary significance. | monotremes (echidnas and platypus) retain an ancestral form of reproduction: egg-laying followed by secretion of milk onto skin and hair in a mammary patch, in the absence of nipples. offspring are highly immature at hatching and depend on oligosaccharide-rich milk for many months. the primary saccharide in long-beaked echidna milk is an acidic trisaccharide neu4,5ac2(α2-3)gal(β1-4)glc (4-o-acetyl 3'-sialyllactose), but acidic oligosaccharides have not been characterized in platypus milk. in thi ... | 2015 | 25601457 |
| brain and behaviour of living and extinct echidnas. | the tachyglossidae (long- and short-beaked echidnas) are a family of monotremes, confined to australia and new guinea, that exhibit striking trigeminal, olfactory and cortical specialisations. several species of long-beaked echidna (zaglossus robusta, zaglossus hacketti, megalibgwilia ramsayi) were part of the large-bodied (10 kg or more) fauna of pleistocene australasia, but only the diminutive (2-7 kg) tachyglossus aculeatus is widespread today on the australian mainland. we used high-resoluti ... | 2014 | 25053446 |
| year-long presence of eimeria echidnae and absence of eimeria tachyglossi in captive short-beaked echidnas ( tachyglossus aculeatus ). | the short-beaked echidna ( tachyglossus aculeatus ) is 1 of 5 extant species of monotreme, found only in australia and papua new guinea. the aim of this study was to identify the species of coccidia present and establish a range of subclinical eimeria spp. (coccidia: apicomplexa) oocyst shedding in echidnas from eastern australia over 18 mo. the coccidia were detected in 89% (49/55) of fecal samples from 12 long-term monitored and healthy captive echidnas, 75% (3/4) of 4 healthy long-term captiv ... | 2012 | 22236183 |
| body temperature in captive long-beaked echidnas (zaglossus bartoni). | the routine occurrence of both short-term (daily) and long-term torpor (hibernation) in short-beaked echidnas, but not platypus, raises questions about the third monotreme genus, new guinea's zaglossus. we measured body temperatures (t(b)) with implanted data loggers over three and a half years in two captive zaglossus bartoni at taronga zoo, sydney. the modal t(b) of both long-beaks was 31 degrees c, similar to non-hibernating short-beaked echidnas, tachyglossus aculeatus, in the wild (30-32 de ... | 2003 | 14667854 |
| identification and functional characterization of a novel monotreme- specific antibacterial protein expressed during lactation. | monotremes are the only oviparous mammals and exhibit a fascinating combination of reptilian and mammalian characters. they represent a component of synapsidal reproduction by laying shelled eggs which are incubated outside the mother's body. this is accompanied by a prototherian lactation process, marking them as representatives of early mammals. the only extant monotremes are the platypus, and the short- and long- beaked echidnas, and their distributions are limited to australia and new guinea ... | 2013 | 23326486 |
| quantitative analysis of forebrain pallial morphology in monotremes and comparison with that in therians. | we have made quantitative volumetric analyses of cerebral cortical (pallial) structures in the brains of three species of monotreme (ornithorhynchus anatinus, tachyglossus aculeatus, zaglossus bruijni) and compared the findings with similar measurements in a range of therian mammals (6 marsupials and 50 placentals). we have found that although the iso- and periallocortical grey matter volume of the monotremes is about what would be expected for their brain size, the proportion of iso- and perial ... | 2019 | 31146906 |
| ixodes barkeri n. sp. (acari: ixodidae) from the short-beaked echidna, tachyglossus aculeatus, with a revised key to the male ixodes of australia, and list of the subgenera and species of ixodes known to occur in australia. | a new species of ixodes is described from two male specimens that have a distinctive ventrolateral horn-like projection on palpal article 1. this structure is not found in any other australian species, but is similar to that of i. zaglossi kohls, 1960 from the long-beaked echidna of papua new guinea. i present a revised key to accommodate the five males of australian ixodes described or re-described since 1970. i also briefly review the 26 australian species of ixodes. | 2019 | 31716747 |