Largest Elephant Shrew Discovered In Africa |
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 January 31, 2008 |
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The previously unknown, squirrel-size species is the world’s largest known elephant shrew and the only new species from the group to be discovered in more than a century, wildlife researchers say.
Weighing about 1.5 pounds (700 grams), the gray-faced sengi (Rhynchocyon udzungwensis) is up to 50 percent heavier than the next largest species of elephant shrew, according to the study team that named the long-snouted creature.
The animal was first identified in 2005 by motion-sensing cameras set up in the Udzungwa Mountains of south-central Tanzania by Francesco Rovero of the Trento Museum of Natural Sciences in Italy.
National Geographic News
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