The Latest Mammalian Species Discovered

Ancient scientists must have had much more work than their modern colleagues, as there
were a plethora of undiscovered phenomena, laws of nature, animal species, and so on. Along
with scientific and technological progress, people continued to believe in manticoras,
chimeras, werewolves, and other mythical creatures. The ancient Chinese manuscript Zuo
Zhuan contains descriptions of the Qilin—a creature with a body of a deer, the head of a lion,
green scales, and a long horn. Today, new animals are rarely discovered; however, it looks
like even in the 21st century, with GPS and satellites, nature still can surprise us. In August
of 2013, a new carnivorous mammalian species was discovered: the olinguito.

An olinguito (or Bassaricyon neblina in Latin) has been classified in the family of
procyonidae; the most well-known representative of this family is a raccoon. The discovery
of olinguitos, made by Smithsonian scientist Kristofer Helgen, curator of mammals at the
Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, is in fact a rare occasion, as almost 35
years have passed since the last time another carnivorous species had been discovered in both
North and South Americas (CNN). Olinguito share about 90 percent of their DNA with
olingos—their “sister” species—but still remain a unique carnivore specimen (Time).

Considered the smallest representative of the raccoon family, olinguitos are jokingly
described by scientists as a “cross between a house cat and a teddy bear” (Newsdesk), and
weighs about two pounds, while being no bigger than 2.5 feet long. Since olinguitos are
nocturnal creatures, they have large eyes that help them navigate in the dark. Olinguitos
reside in the misty forests of the South American Andes located at 5,000 to 9,000 feet above
sea level, and live in the treetops—they can move through the forests by jumping from one
tree to another; perhaps, this is one of the reasons why they have remained unclassified by
science for such a long time.

Olinguitos primarily eat fruits, but also feed on insects, which gives a reason to classify these
animals as carnivores. According to Helgen, there seems to be four subspecies of olinguitos
that differ mostly by color (their fur can be of different shades of reds, oranges, and browns)
and by the area of the Andes that they inhabit. Helgen said it is rather unusual to discover the
olinguito: “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” (Smithsonian.com).

According to the descriptions provided by scientists, olinguitos seem to be cute carnivorous

creatures belonging to the raccoon family that have been recently discovered. They are rather
small—about 2.5 feet long and weighing only 2 pounds—and feed primarily on fruit, though
insects also make a part of their diet. They inhabit the misty forests of South America and
are nocturnal creatures, which results in the large size of their eyes. There seem to exist four
subspecies of olinguito, differing only in fur color and regions of the Andes they inhabit. It
has been a long time since scientists have discovered a rare mammalian species and it might
be even longer until the scientific community happens upon a new one.

References

Landau, Elizabeth. “Olinguito the Newest Rare Mammal Species Discovery.” CNN. Cable
News Network, 16 Aug. 2013. Web. 23 Dec. 2013.

Walsh, Bryan. “Hola, Olinguito! The Smithsonian Discovers a New Mammal.” Time. N.p.,
15 Aug. 2013. Web. 23 Dec. 2013.

“Smithsonian Scientists Discover New Species of Carnivore.” Newsdesk: Newsroom of the

Smithsonians. N.p., 15 Aug. 2013. Web. 23 Dec. 2013.

Stromberg, Joseph. “For the First Time in 35 Years, a New Carnivorous Mammal Species
is Discovered in the Americas.” Smithsonian.com. N.p., 15 Aug. 2013. Web. 23 Dec. 2013.