New mammals found in South America

The Smithsonian, the US has just announced the big-eyed olinguito, the long tail, the orange shaggy, which is the latest mammal and the first carnivore discovered in the Americas for 35 years.

Olinguito - the smallest member of the panda family, lives in the upper forests, more mist in Colombia and Ecuador - is classified as a predator, although its main food is fruit.

An "olinguito" (Bassaricyon neblina) is seen in South America - (Photo: Reuters)

Kristofer Helgen, a researcher at the Smithsonian Institute, said olinguito has thicker, woolier, lighter colors than the olingo - a hybrid between a cat and a panda. The length of the olinguito is about 0.76m, weighs about 900 grams, both males and females are the same size. Children only raise one child at a time.

The olinguito is difficult to detect in the cloud forests of the northern Andes, which are densely populated and often covered in mist, mostly located 5,000 to 9,000 meters from sea level; mainly nocturnal and proficient in moving from branch to branch.

Helgen and his team closely monitored the habit and habitat of this animal. Andes cloud forests are considered unique ecosystems because of the diversity of species, but are now being cut down by people to pave the way for agriculture, urbanization and trafficking in illegal drugs.

The team estimates that 42% of the previous olinguito habitat was metabolized by humans, but Helgen stressed that the new species is not in danger of extinction. At the American Zoo in the 1960s and 1970s, an olinguito was misclassified, living with an olingo, so he could not have a baby and died in 1976.