New Mammal Species Olinguito discovered by the Smithsonian Museum!  A new mammal species is an unusual find.  This species is called the olinguito, and is carnivorous and raccoon-like.

Smithsonian zoologist Kristofer M. Helgen, who led the effort to identify the olinguito, said: "The discovery of the olinguito shows us that the world is not yet completely explored, its most basic secrets not yet revealed."

According to Time Magazine, there are many varities of olingo and Helgen was trying to describe them better.  At Chicago's Field Museum, he found many olingos that had reddish brown long fur, while most olingos have short grey fur.  A team went to the Ecuadorian cloud forests to find out more.

DNA analysis showed that the new mammal species olinguitos shared only 90% of their DNA with their olingo neighbors.

In 2010, another new carnivorous mammal species, Durell's vontsira, was discovered in Madagascar.  This is the last new species of carnivorous mammal discovered.  A new mammal species has not been discovered in the Western hemisphere since 1978.

Currently, we are in a massive extinction period and as many as 100,000 species go extinct every year.  Species can go extinct due to environmental pressures such as the encroachment on habitat by humans or climate change related issues.

Watch Mammal video here: