Hylomys macarong (IMAGE)
Caption
The museum specimen that scientists studied to describe the new soft-furred hedgehog species Hylomys macarong.
H. macarong, which has dark brown fur and measures about 14 centimeters (5.5 inches) in length, was named after a Vietnamese word for vampire (Ma cà rồng) because males of the species possess long, fang-like incisors.
A new study led by scientists at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History describes five new species of soft-furred hedgehogs from Southeast Asia. The study, published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, used DNA analysis and physical characteristics to describe two entirely new species of soft-furred hedgehogs and elevate three subspecies to the level of species.
The two new species, named Hylomys vorax and H. macarong, are endemic to the endangered Leuser ecosystem, a tropical rainforest in North Sumatra and Southern Vietnam, respectively. The museum specimens that were vital to describing these two new species came from the natural history collections of the Smithsonian and the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University in Philadelphia where they had remained in drawers for 84 and 62 years, respectively, prior to identification.
Credit
Katie Sayers, Smithsonian.
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