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Teddy-Bear Face
Photograph courtesy Mark Gurney
A fuzzy fog-dweller with a face like a teddy bear, the olinguito (pictured) is the first carnivore discovered in the Western Hemisphere in more than three decades, a new study says.The 2-pound (0.9-kilogram) creature didn't make itself easy to find. The orange-brown mammal lives out a solitary existence in the dense, hard-to-study cloud forests of Colombia and Ecuador, which inspired part of its Latin name Bassaricyon neblina: Neblina is Spanish for "fog."
What's more, the large-eyed critter is active only at night, when it hunts for fruit in its Andean habitat.
Finding a previously unknown mammal is relatively rare, and finding a carnivore—which are less plentiful than herbivores—is "incredibly rare," according to the study, led by Kristofer Helgen, curator of mammals at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. (Also see "Pictures: 14 Rarest and Weirdest Mammal Species Named.")
That's why the "spectacular" new species is "my most exciting discovery yet," Helgen said at a press conference Thursday in Washington, D.C.
The olinguito is now the smallest known member of the raccoon family. Click through for a closer look at some of its relatives.
—Christine Dell'Amore
Published August 16, 2013
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Olingo
Photograph by Paul Souders, Corbis
Olinguitos were long confused with a related group of tree-living, South American carnivores called olingos (pictured, an olingo in Costa Rica's Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve in 2012).
An olinguito misidentified as an olingo even lived in U.S. zoos in the 1960s and 1970s, moving frequently because—not surprisingly—the animal wouldn't breed with olingos, Helgen said. (Also see "Pictures: 'Scruffy' New Carnivorous Mammal Found.")
Helgen got his first hint of the olinguito’s existence when he was studying olingo skins in Chicago's Field Museum in 2003 and found odd specimens that looked nothing like other olingos.
This sparked a ten-year search to find the mystery animal, later named the olinguito, which was formally announced as its own species on August 15 in the journal ZooKeys.
Published August 16, 2013
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Kinkajou
Photograph by Norbert Wu, Minden Pictures/Corbis
The kinkajou (pictured above in Costa Rica) is another tree-dwelling, nocturnal member of the raccoon family and a relative of the olinguito.
The animal is plentiful in the same cloud forests as the olinguito. Helgen and colleagues saw a kinkajou on the same night in 2006 that they first spotted the olinguito, in western Ecuador's Otanga Cloud Forest Preserve. (Watch a kinkajou video.)
Published August 16, 2013
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Stable Species
Photograph courtesy Mark Gurney
Olinguitos should survive for the foreseeable future: "Hearteningly, it's not an extremely endangered species," Helgen said.
There are probably thousands widespread in protected mountain habitats of Colombia and Ecuador. (See more pictures of Ecuadorian wildlife.)
But that doesn't mean there aren't any threats: An estimated 42 percent of the olinguito's habitat has already been converted to agriculture or human settlements, according to the researchers, and deforestation is a continuing concern.
Published August 16, 2013
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Fuzzy Forest Dweller
Photograph courtesy Mark Gurney
The olinguitos' reddish, fuzzy coats allow them to live at chilly elevations between 5,000 and 9,000 feet (about 1,500 to 2,700 meters).
Like some other carnivores, such as the giant panda, olinguitos seem to eat mostly plants, but are nevertheless part of the taxonomic order Carnivora.
"The age of discovery is not over," Helgen said. "In 2013 we have found this spectacular, beautiful animal, and there's a lot more to come."
Published August 16, 2013
21 comments
For sure now that's its been told to the world someone will come along and kill it. Its a gorgeous new find. Hope it can find hope of survival with humanities way of life.
i hope that there are still new things to discover by the time i become a field biologist
I've just subscribed to this web site.I'm sure that I will find a very information, photos, videos... about Nature, about our planet Earth and how to care it.
Thanks very much.
How does the Olinguito differ from the Olingo? Unless I am confusing the olingo with the kinkajou in Costa Rica, I saw olingos in CR three years ago. Maybe it was being called by the wrong name, but then where did the name olingo come from 3 years ago if this species was just recently discovered. In spanish, the suffix "ito" is tacked onto a word to describe it as being little. So, olinguito would mean "little olingo" and olingo would be the root word. Answers anyone?
God's beautiful design of the universe=) With all the new age explorations going on, we still find new amazing things such as this little animal or the Chinese underground caves, or the one in Vietnam! So much is yet to be learned about our Earth
Makes me wonder how many more undiscovered species of animal there are out there, especially in the vast rain forests and cloud forests of the world. We know so much yet so little.
@Eric. Carnivore is just an Order within the animal kingdom. The Giant Panda is also a "carnivore" even though it doesn't eat meat. It's cool to see we're still discovering new mammals though!
" is the first carnivore discovered in the Western Hemisphere in more than three decades"
"What's more, the large-eyed critter is active only at night, when it hunts for fruit in its Andean habitat."
??? So which is it National Geographic? Are fruits meat now?
By the way, Im pretty sure the third photo is of a bushy-tailed olingo, not a kinkajou. Note that kinkajous have a more "muscular" appearance with very short haired, muscular tails.
@Dan BernardThanks Dan. The olinguito is actually very genetically distinct from the olingo. It also has very different features—a longer, ruddier coat, a smaller skull and teeth, etc. More info here: http://newsdesk.si.edu/releases/smithsonian-scientists-discover-new-species-carnivore
@Eric Thomas Eric, an animal can be genetically a carnivore but not eat meat. Think of the giant panda, which is in the order Carnivora but eats bamboo. It's the same situation with the olinguito.
@Chris Richards Hi Chris. An animal can be genetically a carnivore but not eat meat. Think of the giant panda, which is in the order Carnivora but eats bamboo. It's the same situation with the olinguito.
@Chris Richards there is difference to be made between "Carnivore or Carnivoran" (note capital C) and "carnivore." The former denotes the name of a group of animals (order Carnivora) while the latter describes a feeding lifestyle.
Carnivores are the most carnivorous order of mammals, hence the name, but there is an incredible amount of feeding diversity.
@Chris Richards Right, that would make him an omnivore as he would eat both meat and fruit if he eats meat
@Leonardo Alenizi @Chris Richards Thanks for that explanation. I've just learned about facultative carnivores via google search. Learn something new every day!
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