Scientists have filmed an ancient egg-laying mammal named after Sir David Attenborough for the first time, proving it isn’t extinct as was feared.

Dr Kempton, a biologist from Oxford University, headed a multi-national team on the month-long expedition traversing previously unexplored stretches of the Cyclops Mountains, a rugged rainforest habitat 2,000m (6,561ft) above sea level.

In addition to finding Attenborough’s “lost echidna” the expedition discovered new species of insects and frogs, and observed healthy populations of tree kangaroo and birds of paradise.

That has meant that for the last 62 years the only evidence that Attenborough echidna ever existed has been a specimen kept under high security in the Treasure Room of Naturalis, the natural history museum of the Netherlands.

To an untrained eye it’s not dissimilar to a squashed hedgehog because when it was first gathered by Dutch botanist Pieter van Royen it wasn’t stuffed.

To reach the highest elevations, where the echidna are found, the scientists had to climb narrow ridges of moss and tree roots - often under rainy conditions - with sheer cliffs on either side.

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