New Awesome Mammal In The Raccoon Family Found In South America
Hello, Olinguito Mark Gurney It's been right under our noses for years, and we never noticed it. We don't discover new mammals very often, let alone new mammals in well-known families like Procyonidae (which includes the raccoons, coatis, and ringtails). So we are very pleased to introduce you all to the newest member of the family. Everyone, say hello to the olinguito (pronounced oh-ling-GHEE-toe). The olinguito, as its name suggests, is highly similar to another member of the raccoon family, the olingo, an arboreal, nocturnal animal that looks more like a combination of a possum and a monkey than a raccoon. In fact, says Smithsonian, there was actually an olinguito in American zoos in the 1960s, kept in cages with olingos. "Its keepers were mystified as to why it refused to breed with its peers," writes Joseph Stromberg at Smithsonian. But now we have proof as to why: a new study...