A new mammal has been discovered by the scientists in a remote desert in Namibia, and its name is Macroscelidea Micus. Indeed, one of 17 elephant shrew species, the newly discovered mammal weighs up to an ounce and measures approximately 7.5 inches from snout to tail.
Even though it’s bigger than any elephant shrews, Macroscelides Micus entails a lot to offer by way of its genetics. It’s even more closely related to elephants and other large mammals, more than its nearest family members are. Genetically, Macroscelides Micus is quite different from different members of their genus, and it is exciting to think that there are still areas of the world where even the mammal fauna is not known and waiting to be researched.
Macroscelides Micus isn’t a rodent
Elephant shrew, also known as sengi, is the one from around 20 species of rat-sized African mammals termed for its very long, meaty, and flexible snout. All elephant shews have bodies, slender limbs, and very long hind legs and feet. Even though they resemble shrews, they are not insectivores but represent the mammalian order Macroscelidea.
Elephant shrews are terrestrial and are busy during the day. Their ears and eyes are enormous, and, when alerted, they move with their feet together; they construct and maintain paths, sometimes leaping across barriers. When foraging, they proceed across the tracks, using their claws.
As a result of its size and contour, this rust-colored monster resembles a rat. But it shouldn’t be called so considering its elephant shrews, which are separate from shrews, they are not rodents. The way the creature moves around and hunts insects, one can imagine he/she is crossing a miniature antelope or an anteater. The unusual thing is that it also happens to become monogamous, as mentioned by the investigators in the report. It mainly gives birth to twins or triplets. It’s more closely related to dinosaurs than the elephant shrews, but for the time being, researchers aren’t sure. Rathbun says that they’re, in fact, closer to elephants as they have been to mice.
According to the researchers, there are just about a dozen brand fresh mammal discoveries annually. One of the most prominent new findings occurred last year when scientists described a new carnivorous mammal, a goal that hadn’t been achieved in three years. However, the elephant shrew was not a new mammal, as The Guardian reported that researchers found a new species of wallaby in Papua New Guinea. When asked how it seems to make such a discovery, Deakin University ecologist Euan Ritchie explained that the feeling is much better than Christmas, to go somewhere nobody has ever gone before to describe new animals was pretty fantastic for him.