The Smithsonian Institution announced the discovery of a new animal species on Thursday. It’s called an olinguito, and it has been misidentified in zoos and museums for over 100 years.
Mark Gurney / smithsonianmag.com
High in the canopy of the Andes Mountains in Colombia and Ecuador, the olinguito, a tiny creature that looks like a cross between "a house cat and a teddy bear" has been hiding unbeknownst to scientists and locals alike. The olinguito marks the first new carnivorous mammal discovery since 1978.
The olinguito (pronounced oh-lin-GHEE-toe) has woolly orange-brown fur, weighs only 2 pounds, and is only active at night.
Mark Gurney / Smithsonianmag.com
On Thursday in Washington, Kristofer Helgen, curator of mammals at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, presented anatomical and DNA evidence to confirm the olinguito as the newest mammal species. Despite its bear/cat appearance, the olinguito is actually the smallest member of the the Procyonidae family, which includes raccoons, coatis, kinkajous, and olingos.
The olinguito is distinct from the olingo, which is another known carnivorous tree-dwelling creature from Central and South America, but it is so similar in nature that it was misidentified as an onligo for years.
At least one olinguito has lived in American zoos, but it was never correctly classified.
In the 1970s an olinguito named Ringerl, who was thought to be an olingo, moved throughout the United States before eventually dying in New York City's Bronx Zoo.
When Helgen asked why the animal traveled so much, the zoologist responded, "She wouldn't mate with the other olingos."
"Of course not," Helgen said today. "It was a completely different species."
Helgen began investigating the new species after uncovering unusual olingo skins and skulls of in the Chicago Field Museum. He identified them as distinct from other olingo specimens, and put together a team to investigate; experts in trapping olingos, South American scientists familiar with local rain forests, and his wife, also a Smithsonian zoologist, all helped in unveiling the olinguito.
