New Species of Carnivorous Mammal is Discovered in Madagascar

There are approximately 5,500 species of mammal in the world, although the exact figure is widely disputed. Despite being one of the most widely studied and well documented class of animals, it is easy to see why a definitive list is hard to produce, especially when you consider that distinct new species are still being discovered.

The last decade has seen a number of surprising new additions to the known animal kingdom. The Cypriot mouse, described in 2006, was the first new species of mammal to be discovered in Europe for over a century, despite widespread belief that all European mammal species had been documented. Only seven years ago a new species of rorqual whale (related to the blue whale) was described by Japanese scientists, and still virtually nothing is known about it. And it is not just new mammals that are cropping up; new birds are recorded practically every year, and last year a single expedition in Columbia found 10 new species of amphibian.

A researcher from the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust in Madagascar 

handling the captured Durrell's vontsira in it's wetland habitat.

News of a new species is always exciting, and the most recent discovery has not failed to stir the scientific community. Researchers from the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust have described a new species of mammal in Madagascar.  This has excited Biologists as it is the first new species of carnivorous mammal to be discovered in 24 years. Named Durrell's vontsira, in tribute to the late writer and conservationist Gerald Durrell, the cat-sized animal was first spotted swimming in a lake by members of the organisation in 2004. Researchers suspected the creature to be a new species from photographs taken at the time, and a returning expedition the following year trapped a number of specimens for closer inspection.

Their suspicions have now been confirmed by zoologists at the Natural History Museum who compared the new mammal to its closest known relative, the brown-tailed vontsira. Significant anatomical differences were discovered, indicating the emergence of a new, distinct species. Dr Paula Jenkins, a member of the research team at the Natural History Museum, described these differences; "We found obvious differences in the structure of the skull and teeth...the size and shape of the pads on the paws clearly distinguished this animal from the brown-tailed vontsira, which is a forest-dwelling animal found in eastern Madagascar.”

Also dubbed the scruffy ferret due to its pelt of wiry brown hair, it belongs to the family Eupleridae, and is a close relative of the mongoose. The Eupleridae are found exclusively in Madagascar and this particular species is believed to be confined only to the wetlands of Lake Alaotra in the country's Toamasina Province. Unfortunately, this habitat is under intense pressure from expanding agricultural practice and the new creature is already believed to be critically endangered. “Durrell's vontsira is incredibly rare”, Dr Jenkins added. “We know of only two animals in the wild. It has only been found in the wetlands of [Lake] Alaotra”.

The appearance of a new herbivorous or insect-eating mammal is far more common, as there is simply more of them, however the odds of stumbling upon a new predator like this are substantially lower. Durrell's vontsira is of particular interest as it is thought to live an aquatic lifestyle, whereas most of its relatives - including it's cousin, the brown-tailed vontsira - are found in forest or arid habitats.

Unfortunately, astounding new finds like this are few and far between in contrast to the staggering rate at which species are going extinct, largely due to human activity. The IUCN report that the current rate of species extinction is up to 1,000 times that of the natural background rate, with around 3,000 listed species - including Durrell's vontsira - being critically endangered. As promising as it is to see new characters emerge in a world we feel is already so well understood, the fact remains that species are being forever lost at a far greater rate than they are being found, and discoveries like this should serve as a potent reminder of what we have to lose.