A variety of pangolin, second with the most chromosomes among mammals

2023-05-29 10:29:13

The UCLA-led research created a valuable genetic resource to help control poaching, which is the main reason pangolins are endangered. – RICHARD ROSOMOFF

MADRID, 29 May. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The female white-bellied pangolin has 114 chromosomes. more than any mammal except the Bolivian bamboo ratwhich is 118, and much more than humans, which are 46.

It’s the finding of a new paper published in the journal Chromosome Research, which reveals what UCLA researcher Jen Tinsman calls a “scientific surprise” that underscores how unusual the animal is.

Other pangolin species have more typical numbers of chromosomes, ranging from 36 to 42.

The study also identified another genetic quirk. Male white-bellied pangolins have a different number of chromosomes, 113, than their female counterparts.; in most species, males and females have the same number.

“There is nothing like them on the planet; they are in their own order, their own family,” he said. it’s a statement Tinsman, a UCLA researcher and co-author of the study, added that pangolins’ closest relatives include cats and rhinos.

Tinsman collaborated on the study with colleagues at UCLA and several other universities around the world, as well as zoos and research organizations. The research was carried out to produce information on the pangolin genome to support conservation efforts: all four pangolin species are endangered.

One of the reasons why little is known about pangolins is that they are notoriously difficult to study. They do poorly in captivity; only a few zoos have managed to successfully house them. In the wild, they’re hard to locate, and the technology scientists use to monitor other species often fails when it comes to pangolins: The animals sometimes use trees to rub radio tags off their scales.

What researchers do know about the animals is that they dig and use their long tongues to eat ants, termites, and other insects. Some species, including the white-bellied variety, live in trees, hanging from trunks and branches. Others live in burrows. When threatened, pangolins will curl up into a ball. (Lions have been known to beat them up, not knowing what else to do with them).

The white-bellied species is relatively small, weighing 1.5 kilograms and less than a foot long, while some land pangolins grow up to 40 kilograms. about the size of a large dog.

Aside from its scientific value, the research has created a valuable genetic resource to support conservation efforts, especially attempts to control poaching, which is the main reason animals are endangered. Pangolin scales are illegally sold on international markets for use in traditional medicine from Nigeria to China. They are also hunted as a food source: locally as bushmeat, for which they sell for the equivalent of about $10 each, or as exotic foods in faraway regions, for which they can fetch more than $1,000 in international markets.

“I’ve seen pangolin scales trafficked along with weapons, fake IDs and drugs,” Tinsman said. “The problem extends to the main international crime syndicates.”

The use of genomics could help identify which pangolin species are the sources of animal-derived products. In addition, the information could help conservationists and researchers to understand the differences within a species whose habitats cover 6 million square kilometers and 23 countries.

“Understanding chromosomes and gene structure is important for conservation,” said Ryan Harrigan, an adjunct professor at the UCLA Center for Tropical Research and a co-author on the paper. “You can determine how we manage populations: if you find large genetic differences between two groups, you can manage them differently.”

“This article is a great example of how a study focused on saving a critically endangered species can also advance fundamental science,” said UCLA evolutionary biologist Tom Smith, a co-author of the study.

And vice versa. With conservation methods and technologies developing rapidly, it is increasingly likely that research findings will yield practical applications in the months and years after their discovery.

In this case, new findings could be especially valuable as they develop. and refine technologies like artificial intelligence and emerging conservation methods like environmental DNA.