2023-12-27 13:57:44
Hylomys peguensis photographed in Wang Nam Khiao district, Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand. – CHAROENCHAI TOTHAISONG, CC BY-NC 4.0 DEED.
MADRID, 27 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) –
DNA analysis and physical characteristics have made it possible to describe two completely new species of soft-furred hedgehogs and elevate three subspecies to species level.
The two new species, named Hylomys vorax and H. macarong, are endemic to the endangered Leuser ecosystem, a rainforest in northern Sumatra and southern Vietnamrespectively.
The museum specimens that were vital in describing these two new species They came from the natural history collections of the Smithsonian and the Academy of Natural Sciences at Drexel University in Philadelphia, where they had remained in drawers for 84 and 62 years, respectively, before their identification.
The study, led by Smithsonian and published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Societyhighlights that even in well-studied groups of animals, such as mammals, there are still discoveries to be made, showing what is possible when Modern techniques such as DNA analysis are applied to museum collections.
Smooth-coated hedgehogs or gimnuras are small mammals that are members of the hedgehog family, but, as their common name suggests, they are furry rather than spiny. Like spiny hedgehogs, they are not rodents and have a pointed snout. Without the spines of their better-known cousins, the smooth-furred hedgehogs superficially resemble a mouse-shrew mix with a short tail, he said. it’s a statement Arlo Hinckley, lead author of the study and postdoctoral fellow at the National Museum of Natural History and the University of Seville.
The five new species They belong to a group of soft-furred hedgehogs called lesser gymnus (Hylomys) that live in Southeast Asia. and which were previously only recognized to be represented by two known species.
“We were only able to identify these new hedgehogs thanks to the museum staff who curated these specimens over countless decades and their original field collectors,” Hinckley said. “By applying modern genomic techniques as we did many years after these hedgehogs were first collected, “the next generation will be able to identify even more new species.”
Hinckley said these small mammals are active during the day and night and are omnivores, probably eating a variety of insects and other invertebrates, as well as some fruits when opportunities present themselves.
“Based on the lifestyles of their close relatives and field observations, these hedgehogs They probably nest in holes and they take shelter while foraging among tree roots, fallen logs, rocks, grassy areas, brush and leaf litter,” Hinckley said. “But, because they are so poorly studied, we are limited to speculating about the details of their natural history.” .
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