IT'S BRAND NEW, NEW MAMMALIAN!
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum : Chordata
Class : Mammalia
Order : Carnivora
Family : Procyonidae
Genus : Bassaricyon
Species : Bassaricyon neblina
“At the Chicago Field Museum, I pulled out a drawer, and there were these stunning, reddish-brown long-furred skins. They stopped me in my tracks, they weren't like any olingo that had been seen or described anywhere. The known species of olingo have short, gray fur."
This is how Smithsonian researcher Kristofer Helgen describes a new mammal species in Smithsonian magazine. Researchers spent the several years conducting DNA tests and studying Olingos and their relatives in the rain forests of Ecuador and Colombia. The team found that the Olinguito (pronounced oh-lin-GHEE-toe) is in fact a distinct species from the Olingo.
Helgan and his team had presented their finding in the journal ZooKeys. The raccoon-like carnivores live in the trees of the cloud forests of the Andes. They eat mostly fruit, are nocturnal and have one young at a time. Their reddish fur and smaller bodies distinguish them from Olingos.
Although rarely seen, the Olinguito is not considered to be endangered. However, the researchers hope that excitement about the new discovery will invigorate efforts to preserve and protect their rainforest habitat.
News Courtesy: http://www.treehugger.com
Link: http://www.smithsonianmag.com
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