- Dr. Jack Dumbacher, Curator of Birds and Mammals, California Academy of Sciences
- Dr. Galen Rathbun, Fellow and Research Associate, California Academy of Sciences
With colleague Galen Rathbun, we have studied relationships within the round-eared sengi (Macroscelides proboscideus) throughout the western deserts of Namibia. We recently published a paper examining the taxonomy of this group, which resulted in splitting this species into two [Dumbacher, J.P., G.B. Rathbun, H.A. Smit, and S.J. Eiseb. 2012. Phylogeny and taxonomy of the round-eared sengis or elephant-shrews genus Macroscelides (Mammalia Afrotheria Macroscelidea). PLoS One 7(3): e32410. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0032410]. While performing this work, we discovered a single specimen that did not match these others, and after multiple field trips and genetic lab research, we have discovered that this is a new species. The new species description came out this summer and was the cover article for the Journal of Mammalogy (Dumbacher et al., 2014. A new species of round-eared sengi (genus Macroscelides) from Namibia. Journal of Mammalogy, 95(3):443–454).