Shrew's who: New mammal enters the book of life

 In a rare discovery of a new species of mammal, zoologists on Thursday said they had identified a shrew-like creature called a grey-faced sengi living in a small community.

Sengis -- small, furry, insect-eating mammals that live on forest floors -- are also called elephant-shrews.Until now, only 15 species of sengis were known, but this one is truly exceptional, the proud investigators said.

Until now, only 15 species of sengis were known, but this one is truly exceptional, the proud investigators said.

The newcomer, dubbed Rhynchocyon udzungwensis, stands head and shoulders above his cousins, weighing in at a massive 700 grammes (1.5 pounds), about 25 percent larger than any other known sengi.

Elephant-shrews are monogamous animals that live only in Africa.

They owe their name to early scientists who thought they were shrews and gave them the elephant name because of their long, flexible snouts.

Ironically, recent molecular tests showed that they are more closely related to elephants than to shrews, being members of a mammal group called Afrotheria, which evolved in Africa more than 100 million years ago

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