This little gent is a sengi , or giant elephant shrewmouse , but his particular metal money has never been seen before . Photographed in easterly Kenya , this fresh discovered creature is one of perhaps many undiscovered metal money hiding in Kenya ’s removed coastal woods .
As a genus , the elephant shrews are small , louse - rust wight launch only in Africa , but their ancestry is very unusual . Despite their tiny sizing , they are actually colligate to elephants , not shrews , and even manatees are a closer relation than shrews . This is the 18th metal money of sengi to be name .
A bloke of the Zoological Society of London first spotted the beast while research Kenya ’s isolated northeasterly coast forests . She did n’t recognize the species , which prompted the Society and the Kenya Wildlife Surface to coif up camera traps around the orbit , in the hopes of start a good aspect at the mysterious animate being . The photo you see up top is the result of that work , and it ’s enough to confirm that , yes , this is an totally new species .

Galen Rathbun of the California Academy of Sciences explained why this is such an exciting breakthrough , and what challenges lay ahead :
“ With their ancient and often misunderstood pedigree , their monogamous pairing strategies , and their charismatic elastic snout , they are captivating animals . It is always exciting to delineate a raw species – a necessary precursor for guarantee that the creature are protect .
Indeed , members of the Zoological Society are emphasizing the grandness of protect these coastal forests . They had long been inaccessible due to nonexistent base and surety concerns , but recent maturation project have endangered the long - term survival of the forests . With even more new species lurking in the forest , waiting to be discovered , the hope is that the timber can be protected from this usurpation .

[ Zoological Society of LondonviaBBC News ]
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