A team of researchers from the United States and the Republic of Djibouti has rediscovered the elusive Somali sengi ( Elephantulus revoilii ) more than 50 years after its last recording. While this species, also known as the Somali elephant shrew, is historically documented as endemic to Somalia, the new records come from the neighboring Republic of Djibouti and thus broaden the known range of the species in the Horn of Africa. .
These creatures are predominantly insect eaters and they all have small bodies. They are large runners and some species are capable of moving at almost 30 km / h and with leg ratios closer to gazelles than other small mammals.
Lesser known species include the Somali sengi, which is known primarily from about 39 museum specimens, but for which there have been no records since 1968.
The researchers installed 1,259 traps in 12 locations in four administrative regions (Arta, Dikhil, Tadjourah and Ali Sabieh) of the Republic of Djibouti, in the northwest and adjacent to the north of Somalia. They recovered 263 spiny mice, 17 gerbils, one gundi and 8 Somali sengis.
“It was amazing. When we opened the first trap and saw the little tuft of hair on the tip of its tail, we looked at each other and couldn’t believe it, ” the study authors commented.
After some careful DNA and anatomical analysis of the captured animals, the team not only confirmed that the species was alive and well, but also found that scientists had misclassified it, likely due to a paucity of data.
“This taxonomic problem is solved by recognizing a new genus replacement and a recombinant pairing that redesignates the Somali sengi as Galegeeska revoilii, “ the experts said.
“An analysis of ancestral biogeography suggests that the Somali Sengi have inhabited the Horn of Africa for more than 5.4 million years , and recognition of the phylogenetic ancestry of the species adds to the already remarkable biogeographic history of the Macroscelidini tribe.”
Referencia: S. Heritage et al. 2020. New records of a lost species and a geographic range expansion for sengis in the Horn of Africa. PeerJ 8: e9652; doi: 10.7717/peerj.9652
