ImCoolBeans
August 15th, 2013, 10:24 AM
Meet the olinguito
http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1300710/thumbs/o-OLINGUITO-570.jpg?6
WASHINGTON -- Imagine a raccoon with a teddy bear face that is so cute it's hard to resist, let alone overlook. But somehow science did – until now.
Researchers announced Thursday a rare discovery of a new species of mammal called the olinguito. It belongs to a grouping of large creatures that include dogs, cats and bears.
The raccoon-sized critter leaps through the trees of mountainous forests of Ecuador and Colombia at night, according to a Smithsonian researcher who has spent the past decade tracking them.
But the adorable olinguito (oh-lihn-GEE'-toe) shouldn't have been too hard to find. One of them lived in the Smithsonian-run National Zoo in the Washington for a year in a case of mistaken identity.
Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/15/olinguito-new-mammal-species_n_3761649.html
http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1300710/thumbs/o-OLINGUITO-570.jpg?6
WASHINGTON -- Imagine a raccoon with a teddy bear face that is so cute it's hard to resist, let alone overlook. But somehow science did – until now.
Researchers announced Thursday a rare discovery of a new species of mammal called the olinguito. It belongs to a grouping of large creatures that include dogs, cats and bears.
The raccoon-sized critter leaps through the trees of mountainous forests of Ecuador and Colombia at night, according to a Smithsonian researcher who has spent the past decade tracking them.
But the adorable olinguito (oh-lihn-GEE'-toe) shouldn't have been too hard to find. One of them lived in the Smithsonian-run National Zoo in the Washington for a year in a case of mistaken identity.
Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/15/olinguito-new-mammal-species_n_3761649.html