A fossil of the Owen’s giant echidna, Megalibgwilia owenii, has been identified after lying unnoticed in the Museums Victoria Research Institute for over a century. Weighing up to 15 kg and measuring about 1 meter in length, this prehistoric creature lived during the Pleistocene epoch. The fossil, a skull fragment found in 1907 from Foul Air Cave in East Gippsland, Victoria, was initially mistaken for a small kangaroo bone. Tim Ziegler, the collection manager of vertebrate palaeontology, recognized its significance in 2021, leading to further analysis, including 3D scans of echidna specimens. This discovery fills a 1,000 km gap in the known distribution of the species, which had previously been documented across Australia but not in Victoria. The robust structure of the giant echidna's skeleton indicates it was capable of significant force, suggesting it foraged for food such as larvae and tree bark. The findings prompt questions about the ecological presence of these animals in ice age Victoria, revealing that they were indeed present, just unrecognized until now.