Wow! The elephant shrew was considered a lost species up until recently! It hasn't been seen in 50 years, last scientific recording being back in the 1970s.
A country in the Horn of Africa, Djibouti, the creature was found during a scientific expedition. Found alive and well, we should add.
The elephant shrew is so tiny, it can fit in the palm of your hand. They are neither elephants nor shrews but do have a distinctive trunk-like nose. The elephant shrew actually is related to aardvarks, elephants, and manatees, believe it or not.
Steven Heritage, a research scientist at the Duke University Lemur Center in Durham, and a member of the expedition that re-discovered the elephant shrew said he was thrilled to put the once lost species back on the radar!
Heritage told BBC, "We were really excited and elated when we opened the first trap that had an elephant shrew in it, a Somali sengi. We did not know which species occurred in Djibouti and when we saw the diagnostic feature of a little tufted tail, we looked at each other and we knew that it was something special."
Story via BBC
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