back to article Shrew'd boffins spot TINY ELEPHANT species

Take a look at this critter. No, it's not a mouse, it's not a rodent at all ... This creature is more closely related to an elephant than a shrew. Photo of the mouse Boffins from California Academy of Sciences have found a new, round-eared species of elephant shrew, which are known colloquially as a sengi. The newly …

  1. Francis Boyle Silver badge

    Oh dear

    El Reg tries to avoid being sexist and ends up being (mildly) sexist and racist at the same time.

    1. Havin_it
      WTF?

      Re: Oh dear

      Uh...

      Are you posting to the right article?

      If so, you do realise they said sengis, not Sengas, right?

  2. Neil Barnes Silver badge

    Sengi?

    That's a mimmoth.

  3. This post has been deleted by its author

  4. wowfood

    No picture?

    How can I postulate on the proportions of these pint sized pachyderms without a picture?

    1. Anonymous Coward
  5. fLaMePrOoF

    No pic - PAH!!!

  6. This post has been deleted by its author

  7. Anonymous Coward
    WTF?

    ok?

    I certainly wasn't expecting it to be that small.

    Thanks for the link to the picture, malle-herbert.

  8. Havin_it

    The most important question:

    Will seeing this fella cause an elephant-sized mouse to shriek and jump onto a chair?

    1. Martin Budden Silver badge

      Re: The most important question:

      The other important question: does it also take 21 seconds to wee?

  9. John Smith 19 Gold badge
    Happy

    Ahhhhh

    So cute.

  10. Chris G

    Oops

    Between 2005 and 2011, the team went to visit the wee mammal's home in northwestern Namibia and managed to snare a further 16 examples of the beast, which is called Macroscelides micus and is totally monogamous throughout its life.

    A spokesman said 'We are so excited to have discovered this new beast before the last 16 disappeared and the species became extinct!'

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Like a teeny tiniy tiny Rock Dassie?

    Laughed my head off when a Kenyan park ranger introduced me to one of these, and explained its closest living relative is the elephant.

  12. Jon Egerton
    Coat

    Time to get a cat?

    "The researchers were shocked to find a unfamiliar species of round-eared creature while rooting through the university's archives."

    While its fortuitous that an unknown species should be living in the universities own archives undiscovered, it does raise questions about the university's pest control standards doesn't it?

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Too sensitive

    The story made me wonder what sort of life one would have led to be reincarnated as one of these?

    Oh wow I'm a Elephant the size of a mouse and I live in the one of the most remote inaccessible places on the planet, not a cat in sight, Coolio!

    Oh wait there are some humans.

    1. Scroticus Canis

      Re: Too sensitive - "not a cat in sight"

      It's Africa! Cats every bloody where from lions to small wild cats with lots in between. True that most are not seen though.

      Seen plenty of sengi all across southern Africa, mainly when sitting in a camp inadvertently pitched across one of their race tracks.

      While this particular species may be new to western collectors bet the locals knew about it thousands of years ago.

  14. Pedigree-Pete

    Unviversity archives....

    may I be the 1st to say Ooook!

  15. J.G.Harston Silver badge

    I seem to remember a few years ago people discovered that "the" african elephant is actually two different species. It hadn't been realised earlier because they have two completely different ranges, but it turns out that African has the forest elephant and the plains elephant. Now this makes three!

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