The olinguito takes a bow
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After being misidentified as the olingo, the little mammal finally a name of his own
IF YOU’VE BEEN following the news, you might recall the discovery of a new species of mammal in South America.
Scientists are excited about this discovery because it's the first mammal in 35 years in this area of the world.
Other people are excited because, frankly, the little guy is absolutely cute.
He's called the “olinguito” (pronounced oh-lin-ghee-toh), and he has fluffy red-orange fur, a short bushy tail and a rounded face. He weighs only around one kilo and is less than a metre in length from nose to tail tip.
Researchers at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural describe his appearance as a “cross between a house cat and a teddy bear”.
Found in pockets in the Andes, the olinguito eats fruits but also insects and nectar. He lives in trees, jumping from one to another.
Some researchers believe that the olinguito should be considered the smallest living member of the raccoon family.
All this information is really exciting to me, but what’s really interesting is that the olinguito has been known for years – but not actually known.
You could find him in zoos and museums. His DNA had even been studied, but everyone assumed that he was another animal, the olingo, who lives in the same areas of South America. The olingo, though, is larger and less furry, and has a longer face.
The mistake is understandable. The two animals look very similar. It turns out, however, that they are two different species, "sister species", as they are called by Kristofer Helgen, curator of mammals at the Natural History Museum.
Because of this assumption, no one realised what they had in their museums and zoos until Helgen himself put all the pieces together.
In one sad case, people in one zoo were trying to breed a female olinguito, but she refused every boy they put her with. The people assumed she was just difficult to please and sent her from zoo to zoo.
She knew who she was, the olingo boys knew who she was, but her caretakers didn’t. She never had a family.
It makes you wonder, doesn’t it, how little of the world we know and what discoveries are yet to come.
The discovery of the olinguito also makes me think how little some people in Thailand value what they have, in terms of the wildlife still remaining in the jungles.
Even with the “ordinary” fighting fish, discoveries are being made every day, new species and sub-species found only in Thailand.
Some people don't realise how extraordinary are the animals we see in the sois every day. It’s human nature, I suppose, to desire what is expensive and uncommon, to prefer to own a long-haired foreign breed of cat, for instance, to a cat of the Thai breeds.
Slowly, so slowly, Thailand seems to be losing what belongs to Thailand as many people consider local animals “throw-aways”. Soi dogs may not seem exotic, but talk to anyone who owns one, and you’ll hear how intelligent and easily trained they are.
As research progresses on the olinguito, four subspecies have been discovered, differing in colour and size and living in various areas of the Andes, according to Helgen.
The good news is that the olinguito may not be endangered. People don’t hunt it. (Even local people didn't know that there was a difference between the olinguito and the olingo.) The bad news is that its habitat is gradually being reduced from deforestation.
The cute little animal may yet join the long, long list of animals on the brink of extinction.
