Red-crested Tree Rat Rediscovered in Sierra Nevadas After 113 Years
Posted on May 22, 2011
A unique guinea-pig sized rodent, not seen since 1898, has been rediscovered. The Red-crested Tree Rat (Santamartamys rufodorsalis) showed up at the front door of the ProAves' El Dorado Nature Reserve Eco-lodge in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia. NPR says the rodent was presumed to be extinct.
The animal was rediscovered by Lizzie Noble and Simon McKeown - two volunteers with ProAves monitoring endangered amphibians. The tree rat stayed for about two hours and posed for pictures before heading back into the forest.
Lizzie Noble says, "He just shuffled up the handrail near where we were sitting and seemed totally unperturbed by all the excitement he was causing. We are absolutely delighted to have rediscovered such a wonderful creature after just a month of volunteering with ProAves. Clearly the El Dorado Reserve has many more exciting discoveries waiting."
ProAves says the The Red-crested Tree Rat will now likely be designated as Critically Endangered under the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)'s Red List of Threatened Species criteria.