BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | 'Bizarre' new mammal discovered
New species of elephant shrew (Francesco Rovero)
"The grey-faced sengi (Rhynchocyon udzungwensis) is a recently discovered species of elephant shrew, belonging to the genus Rhynchocyon, announced in January 2008. Only fifteen species of elephant shrew were known up until this point, and the last discovery was made more than 126 years ago. The event therefore represents a rare discovery, not only for these animals, but also for what concerns mammals in general. The creature was found living in a small community in the high-altitude Ndundulu forest in Tanzania's Udzungwa Mountains, an isolated area of great biodiversity. The discovery was made by Galen Rathbun of the California Academy of Sciences and Francesco Rovero of the Museum of Natural Sciences in Trento, Italy. They are set to publish their findings in the February issue of the British Journal of Zoology."
He told the BBC that it quickly became apparent that the creatures were new to science.
He said: "Elephant shrews are almost all distinguished by distinctive colour patterns, and this is especially true of the forest-dwelling giant sengis.
The animal uses its long snout for scooping up insects
"They are all quite flashy - one species has a bright golden rump, another checkers along the rump - so when you have a colour pattern that just isn't similar to what is out there, you know it is fairly obvious that you have got something new.
"And this one, with its grey face and black rump, was pretty different."
As well as its distinctive colouring, the new species was also larger than other species of giant elephant shrew, weighing 700g (25oz) and measuring about 30cm (12in) in length.
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