Rhynchocyon petersi (black and rufous elephant shrew) genome, mRhyPet1, sequence data
The black and rufous elephant shrew (Rhynchocyon petersi) is one of the 17 species of elephant shrew found only in Africa. It is native to the lowland montane and dense forests of Kenya and Tanzania. Like other members of the genus Rhynchocyon, it is a relatively large species, with adults averaging about 28 cm (11 in) in length and 450-700 g (16-25 oz) in weight (from Wikipedia entry). This sample of a male individual was collected by the Wildlife Conservation Society at the Bronx Zoo in New York City, and used to generate a high-quality reference genome for the Vertebrate Genomes Project (VGP). The specimen was captive born at the Bronx Zoo to captive born specimens (dam originated at Omaha Zoo in Nebraska, sire from Brookfield Zoo in Chicago). Sequencing and genome assembly were conducted at the Vertebrate Genome Lab (VGL) at the Rockefeller University, led by Erich D. Jarvis, Giulio Formenti, and Jennifer Balacco.