A very rare rat rediscovered after a century

The red-crested tree rat (Santamartamys rufodorsalis) is a rodent endemic to Colombia whose rarity borders on oblivion. Only three specimens were found between 1898 and 2011, which leaves scientists helpless to study its nocturnal behavior. Classified among the one hundred most threatened species in the world in 2012, it lives in the tropical forests of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta.