Smithsonian discovers new species

Smithsonian Institution scientists have discovered a new carnivorous species -- the first in the Americas in 35 years. The olinguito (oh-lin-GHEE-toe) looks like a cross between a teddy bear and a house cat, weighs two pounds and is closely related to the raccoon.

The olinguito is the newest carnivore species to be discovered, something the Smithsonian says is rare in the 21st century.

"The discovery of the olinguito shows us that the world is not yet completely explored, its most basic secrets not yet revealed," said Kristofer Helgen, curator of mammals at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History and leader of the team reporting the new discovery.

"If new carnivores can still be found, what other surprises await us? So many of the world's species are not yet known to science. Documenting them is the first step toward understanding the full richness and diversity of life on Earth."

Researchers discovered the creature by accident -- they were conducting a study of several tree-dwelling animals when they realized that the olinguito and the previously known olingo were two separate species. The olinguito has a thicker coat of fur, lives at a higher elevation in the Andes Mountains and is much smaller than the olingo.

Once the team determined the two were separate, they set out to find a living olinguito.

"The data from the old specimens gave us an idea of where to look, but it still seemed like a shot in the dark," Kays said.  "But these Andean forests are so amazing that even if we didn’t find the animal we were looking for, I knew our team would discover something cool along the way."

They found the species living in the cloud forests of the Andes, where much of its natural habitat has already been converted for agricultural and urban use. While the species may be newly identified, this is not the first time people have seen an olinguito.

Humans have been living in the olinguito's habitat for millennia, and there have been specimens in museums for more than 100 years. At least one olinguito from Colombia was in several zoos in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1920, a New York zoologist almost realized that it was a separate species -- he thought a museum specimen was so unusual it could be something new -- but he never published the discovery.

"This is the first step," Helgen said. "Proving that a species exists and giving it a name is where everything starts. This is a beautiful animal, but we know so little about it. How many countries does it live in? What else can we learn about its behavior? What do we need to do to ensure its conservation?"