The world’s most recently discovered mongoose is a semi-aquatic Madagascan species called Durrell’s vontsira (Salanoia durrelli). The size of a cat and said to resemble ‘a scruffy little ferret’, it first came to scientific attention in 2004 when a single specimen was unexpectedly encountered swimming in a remote lake, but it was not formally recognized as a new, separate species until 2010, when it was named in honour of celebrated conservationist and author Gerald Durrell.