Newly discovered / described species 2016

Cozumel’s Deer, Once Feared Locally Extinct, Found Living in the Jungle

It has been about 10 years since local environmentalists and conservationists sadly concluded that the last of the wild whitetail deer — odocoilesis virginiansis yucatanensis — had disappeared from Mexico’s Isla Cozumel. Despite private conservation efforts and awareness campaigns starting in the 1980s, locals believed the species had been hunted to extinction on the island by 2000.

A local photographer, Tati Biermas, recently proved this assumption wrong. Biermas is one of the only people to capture these elusive and greatly missed members of the island on film in more than a decade. Her role as island tour-guide and photography teacher regularly takes her into secluded areas of Cozumel where she photographs herons, crocodiles, coatis, and many more wildlife species in their natural habitats.

Read more: Cozumel’s Deer, Once Feared Locally Extinct, Found Living in the Jungle | Latest News | Earth Island Journal | Earth Island Institute
 
4th new mammal of 2016 =
Rattus detentus

Ref. "A new species of Rattus (Rodentia: Muridae) from Manus Island, Papua New Guinea"
Robert M. Timm et al. Journal of Mammalogy.

Abstract: 'We describe a new species of Rattus, from 3 modern specimens collected on Manus Island in the Admiralty Group, Papua New Guinea, between 2002 and 2012. Subfossil specimens of early to late Holocene age from the Pamwak archaeological site on Manus Island are referred to the new species on morphological criteria; these confirm the species as a long-term resident of Manus Island. The new species is distinguished by its combination of large size; short tail; dorsal pelage that is coarse, spiny, and dark, with prominent black guard hairs; and sharply contrasting cream ventral pelage. Based on its overall body form, the species is almost certainly terrestrial. The dentition combines robust incisors with relatively small molars and the cranium displays a distinctive mélange of characters—including an elongate and anteriorly expanded rostrum and a mesopterygoid fossa that is narrow anteriorly and broadens to the rear. Sequence data from the mitochondrial control region and 3 nuclear genes place the new species as a highly divergent member of the Australo–Papuan Rattus radiation, with no identified close relative among sampled taxa.'

Another article about the new Rat :
New species of Manus Island rat named after detainees in 'solidarity' gesture | Australia news | The Guardian

3 new Mouse lemurs from Madagascar :
Three new primate species discovered in Madagascar
 
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4th new mammal of 2016 =
Rattus detentus

Ref. "A new species of Rattus (Rodentia: Muridae) from Manus Island, Papua New Guinea"
Robert M. Timm et al. Journal of Mammalogy.

Abstract: 'We describe a new species of Rattus, from 3 modern specimens collected on Manus Island in the Admiralty Group, Papua New Guinea, between 2002 and 2012. Subfossil specimens of early to late Holocene age from the Pamwak archaeological site on Manus Island are referred to the new species on morphological criteria; these confirm the species as a long-term resident of Manus Island. The new species is distinguished by its combination of large size; short tail; dorsal pelage that is coarse, spiny, and dark, with prominent black guard hairs; and sharply contrasting cream ventral pelage. Based on its overall body form, the species is almost certainly terrestrial. The dentition combines robust incisors with relatively small molars and the cranium displays a distinctive mélange of characters—including an elongate and anteriorly expanded rostrum and a mesopterygoid fossa that is narrow anteriorly and broadens to the rear. Sequence data from the mitochondrial control region and 3 nuclear genes place the new species as a highly divergent member of the Australo–Papuan Rattus radiation, with no identified close relative among sampled taxa.'

And another article about the new Root rat :
Slender root rat: New mammal species discovered by scientists on Indonesian island - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
 
Discription of 8 new lizard-species from Hispaniola :
http://www.mnhn.gov.do/publicaciones2/Novitates9.pdf

The discription of the 2015 discovered White-cheeked macaque :
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ajp.22394/epdf
and the discovery of the species in India :
Wildlife Biologists Confirm New Primate Species First Spotted In Arunachal : SCIENCE : Tech Times

Abstract of the discription of a new catfish-species from India :
A new diminutive sisorid catfish (Actinopterygii: Siluriformes) from northeastern India | NG | Zootaxa
 
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The Monito del Monte, or colocolo opossum (Dromiciops gliroides), is the only extant species in the mammalian order Microbiotheria, and the sole New World representative of the superorder Australidelphia...
or so it was believed until now.
On morphological and molecular evidence, Dromiciops is now shown not to be monotypic. Two additional species have been described - Dromiciops bozinovici and D. mondaca.

Ref. William D'Elia, Natalí Hurtado and Alejandro D'Anatro (2016). Alpha taxonomy of Dromiciops (Microbiotheriidae) with the description of two new species of mountain monkey.
Journal of Mammalogy.
 
Scientists Discover 'Woolly Wolf' Is Likely a New Species

The enigmatic Himalayan wolf —popularly known as the "woolly wolf" — has long vexed taxonomists, but now an international research team says they believe the animal is likely a new species of wolf and not a subspecies of the gray wolf as was previously thought.

As described in a new study published in the journal ZooKeys, after discovering the wolf in the Annapurna Conservation Area of Nepal, Madhu Chetris, a graduate student at Hedmark University College in Norway and a team of scientists analyzed the wolf's mitochondrial DNA through its droppings. According to National Geographic, after conducting DNA laboratory tests, the researchers found that the Himalayan wolf was "significantly different from any other wolves and is likely a distinct species."

"Frequent sightings and observation in the wild made me little bit suspicious as they look totally different of what was previously assumed to be a Gray wolf Canis lupus that roam in the Himalayas of Nepal before (these) findings," Chetris told weather.com in an email. "It hit me 10 years ago, when I encountered these animals visually and finally with the recent DNA technology identification of the animal become possible. We compared with the available sequences so far described on wolves and confirmed that the species belong to Himalayan wolf lineage that were not reported previously from the wild from Nepal Himalayas."

https://weather.com/science/nature/news/scientists-spot-woolly-wolf

Woolly Wolf Spotted in Nepal Is Likely a New Species
 
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