2023-10-29 06:45:03
A “Phyllotis vaccarum” mouse, found more than 6,000 meters above sea level on an Andean volcano. MARCIAL QUIROGA-CARMONA
Mice are everywhere. On every continent – except Antarctica –, at almost every latitude, on the smallest island in the Pacific. The driest deserts, the wettest forests, the countryside and the cities, constitute so many playgrounds for them. “They can make their nest in a fridge and tolerate extreme heatinsists Christiane Denysprofessor of geology at the National Museum of Natural History, specialist in rodents. We know that it adapts to all environments. But at such an altitude, it’s truly impressive. »
A team from the University of Nebraska has just shown that a species of mouse called Phyllotis cows had been installed for decades in the Andes mountain range at altitudes above 6,000 meters. In published correspondence in the magazine Current Biologyit relates the discovery at the summit of three volcanoes, in Chile and Argentina, above the Acatama desert, of thirteen corpses of these naturally mummified rodents. “Among mammals, this is undoubtedly a record, by far”insists Jay Storz, biologist at the University of Nebraska, who made this discovery.
For this specialist in animal adaptation to extreme environments, the adventure began in 2019, when a couple of mountain dwellers reported to him, with supporting images, their observation of a mouse running in the snow on the heights of Llullaillaco , at 6,205 meters. Constantly negative temperatures, a permanent and violent wind, an oxygen level estimated at 44% of that prevailing at sea level: the biologist finds it hard to believe. The following year he organized, with Chilean colleagues, an expedition to the slopes of the volcano. He discovered numerous rodents there up to 5,100 meters. He hits the jackpot at the top: a Phyllotis cowswith its brown coat, yellow rump and large leaf-shaped ears frolicking at 6,739 meters.
Thirteen mummified rodents, preserved intact by the cold
Was it an accident, a lone individual escaping from a mountaineer’s backpack? The team is leading expeditions to three new volcanoes in the region, Salin (6,029 meters), Pular (6,233 meters) and Copiapo (6,052 meters). She observed numerous individuals there between 5,100 meters and 5,850 meters. On the other hand, no mouse seems to point its snout beyond 6,000 meters. But the team found almost better: thirteen mummified individuals, preserved intact by the cold, and the remains of a few others.
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