New mammals discovered by biology's new explorers
Morell, V.
Science 273(5281): 1491
1996
ISSN/ISBN: 0036-8075 PMID: 8801634 Document Number: 454939
During the last ten years, partly because of a new round of exploratory field surveys, scientists have discovered a surprising range of new mammals. When all of these new creatures--which include a deer species, a wild ox, ten new species of primates, several bats, a new genus of antelope, and several genera and species of rodents--are officially named and described, researchers predict that the number of known mammals will increase by at least 15 percent. Some of the new species have emerged from detailed genetic analyses that divide species once grouped together, others have been identified in museum collections, and still others are species scientists have never seen before. Scientists say that the new discoveries are enhancing their understanding of mammalian diversity and distribution patterns. At the same time, each new species discovered represents a victory in the effort to get a fairly complete picture of mammalian diversity before it is erased by habitat loss.