Customize Consent Preferences

We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.

The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site. ... 

Always Active

Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.

No cookies to display.

Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.

No cookies to display.

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

No cookies to display.

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

No cookies to display.

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.

No cookies to display.

NATURE | Zoologists identify new shrew species in Palawan Island

0

An international team of researchers identified a new species of shrew in Palawan Island, providing clues to what makes the Philippines an ideal environment for mammals.

palawan-google-map

Palawan and the Visayas islands. Google Map

WASHINGTON — An international team of researchers identified a new species of shrew in Palawan Island, providing clues to what makes the Philippines an ideal environment for mammals.

The Palawan moss shrew or Palawanosorex muscorum, as described in a paper in the Journal of Mammalogy on Tuesday, has a slender, pointed snout and dark coat, living around 1,500 meters above sea level.

Rainer Hutterer, a German zoologists and the paper’s lead author, analyzed its anatomical traits to determine that the Palawan moss shrew was a distinct species.

The team has found that unlike other shrews, its tail is covered in dense fur rather than visible scales. With broad forefeet and long claws, the Palawan moss shrew digs through humus in search of its favorite snack: earthworms.

Co-author Jacob Esselstyn from the Louisiana State University Museum of Natural Science said, “It provides some clues about how small mammals have evolved and moved between Asia and Africa.”

The Palawan moss shrew might help us figure out how the Philippines’ many mammal species got there in the first place, according to researchers.

Mt. Mantalingahan, a mountain on Palawan Island in the Philippines, is habitat to three unique mammal species, including the shrew.

The mountain is proved to be a hotbed for biodiversity, with isolated mountaintops home to distinct habitats separate from the lowlands and neighboring mountains

Mt. Mantalingahan also functions as a crucial watershed, regulating the flow of water in Palawan through natural processes. In the mountain, humus, the low-density mountainous soil the Palawan moss shrew digs through, acts as a sponge, holding water from the frequent rainfall high-elevation places tend to experience.

Now, much of the Palawan moss shrew’s habitat remains undisturbed by human activity.

xinhua
by Xinhua News Agency
Xinhua News Agency at Xinhua News Agency | Website

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *