Fifty years ago, Michael Armas, a mining engineer in the Philippines, dug up some fossils as he searched for mineral fertilizer. He kept the fossils for 40 years, until a friend took them to the Field Museum in Chicago, Illinois, in 1995. Last week, scientists announced that they have identified the fossils. The bones belonged to a never-before-seen species of dwarf water buffalo. The scientists named it Bubalus cebuensis (Boo-buh-luhs seh-boo-en-sis).
The tiny buffalo is much smaller than the Asiatic or domestic buffalo. John Flynn, of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, examined the fossil. He told TFK, "It's seven or eight times smaller." The discovery may help scientists learn how animals evolve into dwarf species. "One new discovery can have a dramatic impact on our history," says Flynn.