Uncategorized

Lost Species Rediscovered in Africa after 50 years

The Somali Sengi also known as the Somali Elephant-shrew, a mouse-size, elephant-like creature which has been considered a “lost species”, has recently been discovered by researchers around the wilds of the Republic of Djibouti, a country in the Horn of Africa.

What’s an Elephant-Shrew


There are twenty extant species of elephant-shrews. These species are neither elephants nor shrews, rather they are a close relative of other trunk-nosed creatures such as aardvarks, manatees, and elephants.

They are African mammals and are predominantly insectivorous. These species have small bodies ranging from sizes of mouses to squirrels, and in addition, they also have a long and flexible nose.

For several years, since the early 1970s, it has been reported that no scientist had witnessed this particular species of Sengi, the Somali Sengi, and there are only about three dozen historical specimens existed in museums.

Thus, according to the Duke University Lemur Center, the sengi species is among the top 25 most-wanted in the Global Wildlife Conservation’s Search for Lost Species initiative.

The Rediscovery of Somali Sengi

One of the researchers who have rediscovered the said creature is Steven Heritage, a researcher from Duke Lemur Center. Together with other zoologists.

Heritage and his small team have set out to eastern Africa early last year and over one thousand and two hundred (1,200) live-traps later, the team has finally found eight (8) Somali Sengis and a bunch of mice and gerbils.

“We were really excited and elated when we opened the first trap that had an elephant shrew in it, a Somali sengi. We did not know which species occurred in Djibouti and when we saw the diagnostic feature of a little tufted tail, we looked at each other and we knew that it was something special.”

– Steven Heritage, researcher from Duke University Lemur Center, told BBC, August 18, 2020

The researchers have done careful DNA and anatomical analyses of the animals they have captured. And on August 17, 2020, the Duke University Lemur Center, Duke Today have finally revealed the fruit of the team’s efforts – they have indeed rediscovered lost species of an African mammal, the Somali Sengi.

Following the university’s announcement, on August 18, 2020, Heritage and his team have published their study, the “New records of a lost species and a geographic range expansion for sengis in the Horn of Africa“, which can be found on the journal called PEERJ.

“These new records confirm the Somali Sengi as an extant taxon and reveal a broader geographic distribution than was previously documented.”

– an excerpt from the Conclusion of Steven Heritage and his team’s study

According to the Duke University Lemur Center, the researchers have not only confirmed the little mammal as Somali Sengi but also found that it had been misclassified by scientists. “… probably because of the sparse data,” they stated.

The resurrected sengi, the Somali Sengi, has a new name. They are now be called the Galegeeska revoilii.

For More News and Updates

Looking for more news and update like this one? We have an entire collection for you. Feel free to explore our Baguio City Guide website to see the rest of our content. You may also like and follow our official Baguio City Guide Facebook page to catch other latest news and updates.

Looking for video content as well? You may also check out our official Baguio City Guide YouTube channel.

 

SOURCE

PEERJ Journal

Duke University|Duke Today

Global Wildlife Conservation

BBC News

 

How do you feel about this?

Happy
0
Sad
0
Shocked
0
Not Sure
0

You may also like

Leave a reply