The ably name elephant shrew has perpetrate off the retort of the ( half ) C after being found alive and kicking in the Horn of Africa having been lost to science for 50 year . The Somali sengi , as it ’s also known , is a bantam shiner - sized termagant with awibbly nosethat inspired its common name , and it has n’t been spot since 1968 . The unbelievable discovery was published in the journalBiodiversity and preservation .
Clocking a running f number of around 30 kilometers per hr ( ~19 miles per hour ) , it ’s perhaps unsurprising that this speedy shrew has been on the Elia for so long . It was finally tail down thanks to a squad who set out to find it in 2019 postdate summit from Djibouti where locals say it had been spotted . build up with local knowledge and an eye for desirable elephant shrew habitat , they were able-bodied to lure in the fugitive with an resistless formula of peanut butter , oatmeal , and barm .
“ It was amazing , ” said Steven Heritage , a research scientist at Duke University , in apress releasefrom Global Wildlife Conservation . “ When we start the first trap and understand the little tuft of hair on the point of its empennage , we just looked at one another and could n’t consider it . A number of diminished mammal surveys since the 1970s did not get hold the Somali sengi in Djibouti – it was serendipitous that it happened so promptly for us . ”
After setting 1,000 traps , the team found 12 shrews , and deoxyribonucleic acid analysis revealed that the Somalian sengis were in fact a new genus , most nearly related to other sengi species in Morocco and South Africa . The uncovering moves them from theElephantulusgenus to a new constitute genus calledGalegeeska . That they have dispersed so far despite traditionally keeping to modestly sized habitats remains a mystery for the researchers to flummox over .
When on the run from scientists , it seems look like a rock ‘n’ roll only make you so far . Houssein Rayaleh , Association Djibouti Nature
The Somali sengi is one of Global Wildlife Conservation ’s ( GWC)25 most want lose speciesand is the least well - known of the world ’s 20 sengi specie . Before now it was fuck to science from just 39 individual , which were captured hundred of geezerhood ago and kept in museum . Now , it can be removed from the GWC ’s 25 most want listing , providing hope for the species that stay , includingJackson ’s climb salamander , Wallace ’s giant bee , thevelvet mound plantin Indonesia , and thesilver - back " fanged cervid " .
