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https://theconversation.com/meet-tous-an-entirely-new-genus-of-mammal-we-identified-heres-why-its-so-exciting-277235>
"Mammals are not especially diverse. Roughly 6,800 mammal species are known to
exist, compared with about 8,800 species of amphibian, 11,000 species of bird
and 12,500 of reptile. Yet when most people picture biodiversity, they often
think of charismatic mammals first: pandas, orangutans, elephants or tigers.
That visibility comes with scrutiny. Mammals are among the best-studied
organisms on Earth – and among the most threatened. On the international
inventory of the conservation status of species, more than one in four mammal
species is classified as vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered.
Because they are so intensively researched, it’s genuinely rare for scientists
to find and formally describe a new mammal species. The discovery of the
olinguito (
Bassaricyon neblina) made global headlines as the first new
carnivorous mammal identified in the Americas in 35 years.
In 2017, DNA evidence revealed the world had not six species of great ape, but
seven, when the Tapanuli Orangutan (
Pongo tapanuliensis) was found to be
distinct. It was the first new great ape species described in nearly a century.
Describing a new species is exciting enough. But identifying an entirely new
genus is something else altogether. A genus is a taxonomic group covering more
than one species, sitting one level above a species in the Linnaean taxonomic
classification system, established by Carl Linnaeus. For example, in the
scientific name
Homo sapiens,
Homo is the genus (or genera in plural).
There are only about 1,300 genera of living mammals worldwide. Discovering a
totally new genus of mammal happens only a few times a year, if that; some
stunning examples include
Nagasorex, a distinctive shrew from Nagaland, India
in 2025;
Paucidentomys, a Sulawesi rodent in 2012; and
Laonastes, a rock
rat from Laos in 2005.
So, creating a new genus is a rare event and a real privilege. But that is
exactly what we just have done – describing a new genus of a small gliding
possum in Indonesian Papua."
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*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
