Although it may seem strange, there are many unknown mammals. This is a list of some species that, although they may be considered exotic (some are even in danger of extinction), have surprising characteristics. And they are endemic species, meaning they only occur in the nature, in certain places in the world.
Unknown mammals: Aguará Guazú (Chrysocyon brachyurus)
The name comes from the voices in Guaraní Will water: fox and Guazu: large, it is the largest canid in South America and is not related to any other known canids; specimens are found in Paraguay, Argentina, Brazil and Bolivia.
It feeds on rabbits and small rodents and although it is harmless to humans and very shy, its habitat is shrinking by the day. The main cause is the clearing and burning of forests for agricultural purposes, in addition to hunting as it is associated with various myths and legends. Today it is a protected species in several countries where it lives.
Unknown mammals: Aye aye (Daubentonia madagascarensis)
This primate has a truly exotic appearance. Initially, it was classified as a squirrel thanks to its long but shaggy coat. It is endemic to Madagascar and its species is classified as “near threatened”. IUCN Red List. Because it is estimated that there are only about 2,500 individuals left.
It has nocturnal habits and uses the woodpecker method of searching for larvae under the bark of trees: it rhythmically taps the surface (it is the only mammal that does this). When it finds holes, it scratches the bark and inserts its third finger, long and equipped with a claw, into the hole to grab the larvae. It lives high in the trees of most jungle areas and supplements its diet with insects, fruits and leaves.
Unknown mammals: Goodfellow’s tree kangaroo (Dendrolagus goodfellowi)
Marsupial species originating from the island of Papua New Guinea, but also in the border area with Java. On the ground it is somewhat clumsy and slow, but it moves with great agility among the branches of trees, which is its usual habitat.
It feeds on the leaves of certain trees and also on fruits, grains and even some flowers. Their stomachs work much like those of herbivores in that food is slowly deposited and digested through a bacterial fermentation process.
Unknown mammals: Diver’s zebra (Cephalophus zebra)
This small antelope lives in Liberia, Guinea, Ivory Coast and Sierra Leone. Due to the gradual loss of habitat due to clearing of Guinean forests, the area is considered vulnerable. It is a ruminant that eats leaves, fruits and herbs.
Unknown mammals: Galeopithecus (Galeopterus variegatus)
It is commonly called colugo or flying lemur, but it is not a lemur. It is such a rare animal that a new order, the Dermoptera, had to be created to taxonomize it. Its most notable feature is its ability to fly. Unknown mammals.
This is because it has a membrane called a patagio, which from the neck connects the forelimbs, the hindlimbs and even the tail and, when deployed at high altitude, allows long gliding flights of up to 70 meters. It feeds on the fruits of trees and leaves.
Unknown mammals: Gerenuk (Litocranius walleri)
This graceful and shy animal, better known as Waller’s gazelle or giraffe gazelle, lives in the African savannah. And you can see it eating the leaves of the tallest trees, for which it stands on its hind legs and stretches its long neck to reach the highest shoots.
They live in herds and thanks to their extensive diet and means of obtaining food, they reproduce all year round. It has the same preorbital glands as many other gazelles, allowing it to secrete a black paste with which it marks its territories in the ecosystems in which it lives.
Unknown mammals: Pichiciego (Chlamyphorus truncatus)
This rare armadillo has nocturnal habits, it feeds on insects, mainly ants, making its burrows near the anthills that provide them with food. It has a hairy body, legs adapted for digging with prominent nails, and a shield from head to tail.
Unknown mammals: Quokka (Setonix brachyurus)
A small marsupial with friendly features and not aggressive at all. It is considered the most docile of its kind and is usually domesticated. It is endemic to Western Australia, nocturnal and herbivorous. Unknown mammals.
Unknown mammals: Naked mole rat (Heterocephalus glaber)
Unique rodent of its kind, completely hairless and lives in Africa (Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya). It can live up to 29 years (it is one of the longest living rodents), they live in matriarchal colonies, with a queen who is what reproduces and feeds on insects and roots and tubers (they are very harmful in harvest areas).
It has been experimented with because it has two features that make it truly incredible: it is impervious to a certain amount of pain (and apparently almost voluntary, since the neurotransmitters are apparently functional) and resistant to certain forms of contamination. cancers and spontaneous tumors.
Unknown mammals: Star mole (Condylura cristata)
It lives on the northeast coast of the United States and has strange, very sensitive nasal tentacles, with so-called receptors Eimers organs who compensate for their blindness in looking for food. It eats small insects and is believed to be the animal that devours its prey the fastest. Unknown mammals.
