Tropes

popsci_2013 00981.txt

#New Awesome Mammal In The Raccoon Family Found In South Americawe don't discover new mammals very often let alone new mammals in well-known families like Procyonidae (which includes the raccoons coatis and ringtails. So we are pleased very to introduce you all to the newest member of the family. Everyone say hello to the olinguito (pronounced oh-ling-GHEE-toe. The olinguito as its name suggests is highly similar to another member of the raccoon family the olingo an arboreal nocturnal animal that looks more like a combination of a possum and a monkey than a raccoon. In fact says Smithsonian there was actually an olinguito in American zoos in the 1960s kept in cages with olingos. Its keepers were mystified as to why it refused to breed with its peers writes Joseph Stromberg at Smithsonian. But now we have proof as to why: a new study published today in the journal Zookeys has established through DNA and other anatomical evidence that the olinguito Bassaricyon neblina is a distinct species. No wonder it didn't mate with an olingo! The olinguito looks fairly similar to the olingo but its fur is a totally different color; olingos have dull gray fur but the olinguito has reddish-brown fur. Kristofer Helgen curator of mammals at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural history and author of the paper stumbled on some olinguito skins while researching the olingo in South america. It's slightly smaller than the olingo about 14 inches long and weighing about two pounds and eats mostly fruit supplemented with insects. It lives in the high forest of Ecuador and Colombia--delightfully called cloud forests--and rarely comes down from the trees adept as it is at leaping around the branches. Researchers aren't sure whether the species is at critical risk; Helgen estimates that 42 percent of its possible home territory has been deforested so he says there is reason to be concerned. Helgen thinks there may be up to four subspecies of olinguito roaming around the forest which is pretty much unheard-of for a mammal discovery at this time in history. I honestly think that this could be the last time in history that we will turn up this kind of situation both a new carnivore and one that's widespread enough to have multiple kinds he said. Read more about the olinguito over at Smithsonian. What a cute little fury guy. I hope they save them and the amazon forest of which they live!!!I don't think he's smiling. Conservation of wildlife habitat is the main theme which should be stressed if beautiful species such as this animal is to survive into the distant foreseeable future e

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