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The smallest mammal in the world, Kitti’s hog-nosed bat, appears in
a fascinating catalogue of sightings and speculation about the world’s rarest
species, Karl Shuker’s The Lost Ark: New and Rediscovered Animals of the
20th Century (Collins, pp 287, £14.99). It shows scientists caught
mid decision: a new species of cheetah is agreed, then reclassified as a
subspecies. Yet the king cheetah’s markings – stripes as well as spots –
and its habit of lurking in the woody margins of plains differ from its
relative. It may be developing into a new species. Some anecdotes sadden
– a lone bird awaits extinction; others thrill – the discovery of the megamouth
shark from the first dead specimens to the capture and release of a live
one.