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Look who made it to the top of Kilimanjaro this week!
The new elephant shrew discovery
Posted by Henry at 11:51 am, February 2nd 2008.
Not
a specifically Kilimanjaro news item, but this story is so good it's worth reporting
here. A new variety of giant shrew has been discovered in the Ndundulu Forest in
Tanzania's Udzungwa Mountains.
Discoveries of new mammals are very rare occurences
-
Dubbed Rhynochocyon
udzungwensis, is said to resemble a miniature antelope and a small anteater, with
a long nose, grey face, a stocky, amber body, a jet-
Elephant shrews are only found in Africa, and actually, despite their size, are more
closely related to elephants than shrews, sharing a common ancestor with pachyderms,
sea cows, aardvarks and hyraxes.
Unusually for a newly discovered species, the elephant
shrews, or sengi as they are also known, are diurnal, (ie are most active at day),
rather than nocturnal. Even more strangely, this is not the first time the Udzungwa
Mountains have witnessed the discovery of a new creature, with the Udzungwa partridge,
the Phillips' Congo shrew, and the Kipunji, a new species of monkeys. Despite this,
the mountains do not as yet receive full official environmental protection.
Nevertheless,
isn't it wonderful that new creatures are still being discovered on this planet of
ours. And you never know, keep your eyes peeled on Kilimanjaro and who knows what
weird and wonderful creatures you may discover...
To read more about the elephant
shrew, including a photograph, visit the BBC report at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7213571.stm