Mindanao Gymnure Podogymnura truei

It is endemic to the Mindanao islands of the Philippines. their typical diet includes earthworms, insects, and arthropods. Although primarily carnivorous, they will occasionally eat fungi and fruit. P. truei are nocturnal or crepuscular, which means that they remain in their burrows during the day, but come out to forage by searching the forest floor at twilight or night.

OK, so the most recently discovered mammals that I know of are Soft-furred Gymnures, from SE Asia.

Here is the paper:

integrative taxonomic revision of lesser gymnures (Eulipotyphla: Hylomys) reveals five new species and emerging patterns of local endemism in Tropical East Asia | Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society | Oxford Academic

And here is a closely related species, that there is actually a good photo of...

Soft-furred Hedgehog or Gymnure (Hylomys maxi), family Erinaceidae, order Eulipotyphla, Fraser’s Hill, Pahang, Malaysia

Oh, you definitely should have a look at the gymnures and other lizards in the family Agamidae!

Moroccan Uromastyx aka North African Mastigure (Uromastyx acanthinura), male, family Agamidae, found in arid North Africa

photograph by Douglas Dix, Ph.D

We’re back in the mammal zone with the Long-eared Gymnure (Otohylomys megalotis). They are thus far only known from the Khammouan Province in Central Laos [1].

One of their key identifying features are their big ears. Their species name is derived from combining mega and otos, the latter being the Greek for ear [2], and when a few years later they became the one member of the genus Otohylomys (they were first assigned Hylomys), they essentially named the genus “ear Hylomys” as well [3].

Aside from that, you can also distinguish them from other Hylomys by their long skull and tail [2]. Their hair is also longer than that of regular gymnures and lacks a downy layer. Instead they have thin convoluted hair bases which create a layer of insulating air above their skin [4].

Not much is known for certain about their engagement with their environment, but based on their bodies, they are assumed to be limestone-karst specialists, so adapted best to rocky limestone areas where they come from [1]. The long whiskers around their nose are especially important for navigating such landscapes [4].

Not Rat, Not Weasel, and Nothing In-Between

My own headcanon for what Razzid Wearat really was. I know he's called a "Wearat"--and rumored to be this hideous rat-weasel hybrid crime-against-nature... but uh no! I prefer the idea he was simply an animal from a bit outside the usual Euro-centric cast of species which the locals were terrified of since they simply didn't have any kind of idea what it was. Similar to how human beings "chimerize" their descriptions of unknown animals (example--describing a binturong as a "bear-cat", believing it to have a bear body and a cat face, or some mix of features despite the binturong being neither of these), the "Wearat" would be more accurately called a Moonrat--or a Gymnure. The Moonrat/Gymnure is actually a close relative of the Hedgehog! Physically it has a clearly carnivorous face and dental structure much like a hedgehog or a shrew (the "weasel" aspect) but form-wise is a bit more rat or really opossum like. The intense "ugliness" is really a matter of subjectivity--they're really not much different looking than moles and shrews, so... XD

Island Weirdness #15 -- Deinogalerix

Thanks to the absence of large terrestrial carnivores on the Gargano-Scontrone island(s) during the Late Miocene, animals that were usually small had the opportunity to become larger, moving into the vacant ecological niches and evolving into predators unlike anything existing on the mainland.

Deinogalerix was a giant member of the gymnures -- close relatives of hedgehogs without the quills -- with a proportionally big head and a long snout full of large fangs at the front and bone-crushing molars at the back.

Several different species have been found, with the largest Deinogalerix koenigswaldi having a head-and-body length of around 60cm (2′). Along with its tail that would have made it at least 90cm long (2′11″), making it the biggest eulipotyphlan ever discovered.

It would probably have hunted smaller mammals, birds, and reptiles, filling a niche on the island similar to dogs or cats.