The olinguito(小尖吻浣熊)is new to science. Although lt has been living in the cloud forests of South Amcrica for some time.
Scientists say the olinguito is the first new carnivore(食肉动物)discovered In the Americas in more than 30 years. It is a hairy orange-brown creature with a sweet face and big eyes The animal has small. rounded ears and lives in the trees An adult weighs one kilogram and measures about 75 centimeters. with half of those centimeters taken up by its ringed tail Most of the time. it likes to eat fruit, although it also eats meat. Active at night, the animal has lived in Colombia and Ecuador for a long time. But the olinguito did not exist in science books before now.
Kristofer Helgen, director at the National Museum in Washington, led the research team that confirmed the existence of the olinguito. It had been mistaken more than a century ago for a look-alike animal -- a similar but larger olingo(尖吻浣熊). Mr. Helgen had been studying olingos in a museum for ten years. At that time. he observed a difference in the size and shape of the heads and teeth. That led him on an effort to prove he was looking at an animal never before described by science. He got lucky when he communicated with a zoologist in Ecuador. The animal expert there made a short video that shows an olinguito in the trees. The video confirms that the oiinguito is different from the olingo Mr. Helgen says tens of thousands of olinguitos live in the wild and are not in danger of disappearing forever. Human beings, however, are moving closer to the olinguito habitat in the Andean cloud forests. The research team estimates that 42 percent of historic olinguiio habitat has been removed
Comparcd with most carnivores. the olinguito may seem more _____.
A.terrble | B.fierce | C.clever | D.lovely |
The onlinguito was unknown to people in the past because ____
A.it was mistaken for another species |
B.it was active in the eveing |
C.it was too small to be seen clearly |
D.it covered itself by its long tail |
What does the underlined word "That" in Paragraph 3 refer to?
A.Having been studying olingos for ten years. |
B.The short video the animal expert made. |
C.His communication with an expert in Ecuador. |
D.Differences between olingos and olinguitos. |
We can infer from the text that ______.
A.the olinguito could be made full use of |
B.the number of olinguitos is in the conutrol |
C.the clinguito is a completely new species up to now |
D.people know more and more about animals |