Researchers Found 2 New Rodent Species In Mountains of Luzon
RESEARCHERS – The Pinoy and American researchers found new rodent species to the mountains of Luzon.
Until now, scientists and researchers are still not over with discovering new species of animal around the world.
It is considered one of the most interesting job since they will be the first to laid eyes on the new found animal.
According to Mongabay.com, there are still lots of new species in the Philippines that can potentially be found.
Surely, they can find those animals in the vast forests from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.
Based on a report from GMA News, scientists discovered new rodent species to the mountains of Luzon.
The scientists previously believed that there are only four Rhynchomys species in the world but it changed until they find two other rodent species.
According to the report, the United States and Philippine researcher the new rodent species named Rhynchomys Labo and Rhynchomys Mingan.
Pinoy biologist Danilo Balete led the discovery of these rodents with the cooperation of the Field Museum in Chicago.
They found these two new species in the mountain provinces of Camarines Sur and Aurora.
Balete and his team tried to capture these rodents by baiting them with peanut butter. They wondered why these creatures seemed uninterested with their bait.
Until they discovered that these rodents preferred to eat earthworms. The mammalogist from the University of Utah, Eric Rickart described the rat’s way of eating the worms.
“Slurped it up like a kid eating spaghetti,” he said.
Based on the report, the researchers issued a statement regarding the importance of preserving the animals in the forest from human abuse.
“R. labo and R. mingan are restricted to mid to high elevations in montane and mossy forest habitats that have minimal anthropogenic disturbance…”
“Nonetheless, all areas of highland habitat, and particularly those supporting endemic species, require protection from direct overexploitation of forest resources and indirect threats posed by geothermal development and mining activities,” they added.
We can all hope that these new species will be protected from human abuse.
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