Thursday, August 15, 2013

New small but fierce animal discovered in Ecuador

Scientists have discovered a new fierce little animal living in Ecuador. It is the Olinguito, described by the Guardian as "a cross between a teddy bear and a house cat". The odd thing about these fellows is that they were not unknown to science - specimens have been exhibited in museums and a female Olinguito called Ringerl spent many years living in the zoo system of the United States. But scientists had previously mixed up the Olinguito with the Olingo, an entirely different animal (which explains why zoos were unable to persuade Ringerl to breed, as they kept trying to mate her with Olingos).

The Olinguito is classed as a carnivore, meaning that it belongs to the order Carnivora with dogs, bears, lions, cats and other fierce animals. However, Olinguitos primarily eat fruit, though they are still very fierce for their size.

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