An expedition to Peru’s Tabaconas Namballe National Sanctuary led to the discovery of three new species of mammals that had been hidden until now!
The sanctuary consists of a variety of habitats, like rainforests and grasslands, so it is able to house 85 species of mammals, 326 species of birds and 23 species of reptiles! Biologists are calling this a “new heaven of unknown biodiversity.” We like to call it the heaven of the extremely cute!
Night Monkey
Night Monkeys are considered endangered and are very rarely seen, therefore very little is known about them. There are two other known species of Night Monkey, but this newly discovered one differs from them because its fur is largely a single colour and its skull is much smaller.
Enigmatic Porcupine
This porcupine was looks like any other porcupine, except it’s fur is much darker and it is also much larger in size. In addition to that, the Enigmatic Porcupine’s quills are also extremely long. Apparently locals have shown the biologists the skins of still another unknown species of porcupine, so there are probably many more still waiting to be discovered!
Small-Eared Shrew
This species is a smaller version of the marsupial shrew and eats insects. They have very little eyes and their ears are so small they’re difficult to spot. Unfortunately, these shrews are a mystery as not much is known about them, yet.