A teenage animal, with a long nose, a furry taffeta on its tail and large, spectacular eyes had not been seen in almost half a century. That is, until a gourd of peanut butter lures the small mammal of mouse-sized lure from the rocky, rugged lands of Djibouti in the Horn of Africa.
The recently “rediscovered” mammal, called a Somali sengi (Elephantulus revoilii), is a kind of elephant. While elephants are related to elephants, aardvarks en manatees – they are not elephants and they are not sheds.
The Somali sengi has not been seen since 1973. Everything known about the obscure mini mammal came from 39 individual specimens that were collected decades and centuries ago and that are now stored in museums, according to a statement of Global Wildlife Conservation.
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In 2019, a group of scientists from the US and Djibouti set out to search for the species after receiving tips that the creatures could hide in Djibouti, although the animals had only been found earlier in Somalia, according to the statement.
“For those of us living in Djibouti, and due to the Horn of Africa expansion, we have never considered the sengis ‘lost’, but this new study brings the Somali sengi back into the scientific community, which we value. , “co-author Houssein Rayaleh, a research ecologist and conservator with the non-profit organization Association Djibouti Nature, said in the statement. Rayaleh had seen the creature before – and locals had it too, correctly identifying it in photos during interviews with the scientists, according to the statement.
Using interview information, manure pile analysis at candidate sites and terrain assessments and protection potential, the researchers set up 1,259 stairs at 12 different locations across the rocky terrain. They lure the animals to the skins by adding peanut butter, oatmeal and yeast. They caught one of the elusive mammals in the first trap they set.
In total, they found 12 Somali sengis, which they could distinguish from a similar species by the tuft of fur on their tails, according to the statement. “For Djibouti, this is an important story that highlights the great biodiversity of the country and the region and shows that there are opportunities here for new science and research,” Rayaleh said.
They all found sengis due to rocky outcrops and relatively poor vegetation, areas that are typically unfavorable to human activity, meaning that the small creatures are unlikely to experience any habitat destruction, according to the statement. Because they found similar figures with other sengi taxa and because they now know that the creatures live outside Somalia, the authors recommend that the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species change the Somali sengi’s current “data shortage” status to “worst concern”, according to the statement.
“Usually when we rediscover lost species, we find just one or two people and we need to act quickly to try to prevent their endangered species,” said Robin Moore, one of GWC’s Search for Lost Species programs. , said in the statement. “This is a welcome and wonderful rediscovery in a time of unrest for our planet, and one that fills us with new hope for the remaining small mammal species on our most sought after list.” (GWC created a list of 25 of the most searched ‘lost’ species.)
The findings were published today (August 18) in the journal PeerJ.
Originally published on Live Science.
