A tiny mammal species discovered in a remote African desert may look like a mouse but in genetic terms it's a close relative of elephants, says a California scientist who helped in identifying it.
The new kind of elephant shrew, dubbed Macrosceildes micus and discovered in Namiba, has reddish fur that keeps it camouflaged by letting in blend in with colors of its rocky habitat, says John Dumbacher, a curator of mammals and birds at the California Academy of Sciences located in San Francisco.
And the elephant part of its name is appropriate, Dumbacher says, because analysis of its DNA shows its related to much bigger creatures.
"It turns out this thing that looks and acts like shrews that evolved in Africa is more closely related to elephants," he says.
That's a surprising finding given that the only apparent link between the tiny shrew and an elephant consists of the long, pointed trunk-like snout seen on the shrew.
"They are actually closer related to elephants than they are to mice," academy researcher Galen Rathbun says.
The discovery of the new speices may not have happened had Rathbun not stumbled over it -- almost literally. Walking in the Namibia desert, he spotted one, noticing it didn't look like what he expected for a shrew.
"I noticed that there were some differences that didn't make sense, so I came to Jack [Dumbacher] for genetics," Rathbun says.
The "different" creature dines on insects and termites and uses its pointed "trunk" to sweep the desert floor looking for prey, in much the same way an anteater does, the researchers report in the Journal of Mammology.
It's also different from other shrew species in being monogamous, unusual among shrews. The newly discovered M. micus usually gives birth to twins or even triplets which are born fully furred and immediately able move about their desert home, the California scientists say.
The discovery of an entirely new species of mammal is not that common, they say.
"For some groups of organisms, they are constantly describing new species but for mammals it's rare," Dumbacher says.
"Genetically, Macroscelides micus is very different from other members of the genus and it's exciting to think that there are still areas of the world where even the mammal fauna is unknown and waiting to be explored," he says.
The shrew is on display at the California Academy of Sciences, and Dumbacher and Rathburn say they'll return to Namibia later this year to study the creature in its native habitat in an effort to learn how it survives in its harsh environment.
