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THE OLINGUITO
The olinguito is a small mammal with fluffy red-orange fur, a
shortbushy tail, and an adorable rounded face has leat onto the
raccoon
family tree!
This animal is distinct from the other secies within the genus,
oularly
"nown as #olingos#, and also from the "in"a$ou %"in"a$ous
resemble
olingos, but are not closely related&! Its a'erage weight is
()) grams
%* lb&, ma"ing it the smaller rocyoid!
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The animal is an omni'ourus frugi'ore that eats mainly fruits
%such as
figs&, but also insects and nectar resulting in feces the
si+e of
small blueberries! The olinguito is thought to be solitary,
nocturnal and
moderately reclusi'e! Olinguitos aear to be strictly arboreal!
They
ha'e a single air of mammae, and robably roduce a single
offsring
at a time!
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istribution and habitat
ecimens of the secies ha'e been identified from the .ndean
cloud
forest stretching from western /olombia to Ecuator! Its
disco'ery wasconfirmed in the wildand announced on 01 .ugust *)02
by 3ristofer
Helgen, the curator of mammals at the mithsonian National 4useum
of
Natural History, olingo e5ert 6oland 3ays of theNorth
/arolina
4useum of Natural ciencesand collaborators! Helgen
disco'ered
secimens of the secies in storage at The 7ield 4useumin
/hicagoand
used N.testing to confirm a new secies! The researchers who
identified the secies were unable to disco'er any local names
secific
to it!The secies is not considered to be immediately at ris",
but it is
estimated that o'er 8) ercent of the animal9s otential range has
been
deforested!
uch a disco'ery is rare! The olinguito is the first mammalian
carni'ore
secies to be newly identified in the .mericas in 21 years,
according to
3ristofer Helgen!
Olinguitos were regularly seen and e'en ublicly e5hibited
decades
before they were recogni+ed as members of a new secies! The
animalhad re'iously been confused with its ta5onomiccousins, the
olingos!
One such e5amle was 6ingerl, an olinguito who li'ed in
theNational
:ooin ;ashington, !/!, for a year and also toured many other
+oos!
6esearchers unsuccessfully tried tobreedher with olingos, not
reali+ing
she was a different secies! 6ingerl died in 0(
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Ta5onomic e'aluation
The olinguito is smaller than the other secies in the
genus Bassaricyon! It is also much furrier, has a different
tooth
configuration, a shorter tail, and smaller ears! The olinguito
is found in
the northern .ndesat altitudesbetween 0,1)) and *,
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between olinguitos and other olingos ma"es olinguitos a sister
lineageto
the rest of the genus, and is e>ui'alent to differences
between secies
which ha'e been assigned to searate subgeneraor genera!This
slit
aarently occurred about 2!1 million years ago, suggesting that
the
earliest di'ersification of the genus too" lace in northwestern
outh.merica shortly after the ancestors of olingos first in'aded
the continent
from /entral .merica as art of the Great .merican
Interchange!
6esearchers argue that the olinguito should be considered the
smallest
li'ing member of the raccoon family, which includes other
animals that
ma"e us go #awww# such as coatisand "in"a$ous! The
mithsonian
describes the olinguito9s aearance as a cross between a house
cat and a
teddy bear! /ats, bears, and olinguitos belong to the /arni'ora
order!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sister_lineagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subgenerahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_American_Interchangehttp://www.mnh.si.edu/mna/image_info.cfm?species_id=208http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/science/2011/11/what-in-the-world-is-a-kinkajou/http://www.mnh.si.edu/mna/image_menu.cfm?order=2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sister_lineagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subgenerahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_American_Interchangehttp://www.mnh.si.edu/mna/image_info.cfm?species_id=208http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/science/2011/11/what-in-the-world-is-a-kinkajou/http://www.mnh.si.edu/mna/image_menu.cfm?order=2
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This animal had been seen before by humans, Helgen said,but it
had
been #a case of mista"en identity!#
#It was in museums, it9s been in +oos, and its N. had e'en
been
se>uenced, but no one had connected the ieces and loo"ed
close
enough to reali+e, basically, the significance of this
remar"able and thisbeautiful animal,# Helgen said!
?re'iously, scientists had assumed that olinguitos were members
of their
sister secies, the olingos, Helgen said! Olingos are larger,
less furry and
ha'e longer faces than the newly disco'ered secies!
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The To 0) urrising 7acts .bout Olinguito@sA
10- Olinguitos Are Carnivorous!
9- Olinguitos Live In Columbia And Ecuador!
8- Olinguitos Have One ab At A "ime!
#- $e% &'ecies O( Olinguitos )irst *iscover In +, ears!
.- Olinguitos /rongl Identi(ied )or 100 ears!
,- Olinguito Is $amed $oblina!
2- Olinguitos Are Creatures O( "3e $ig3t!
+- Olinguitos Are )ound In "rees!
4- Olinguitos Are 5embers O( "3e 6accoon )amil!
1- Olinguitos Are A Cross et%een A Cat And ear7
