According to the Buenos Aires Economic News Network in Argentina on January 26**, the golden retriever mole has miraculously returned, and this species that has not been seen for nearly 100 years has been rediscovered.
South African scientists confirmed the rediscovery of the Devinton golden mole rat, a surprising twist in the field of biodiversity conservation, the report said. After two years of searching, including the use of sniffer dogs and environmental DNA (EDNA) technology, a team of researchers from the Endangered Wildlife Trust** and the University of Pretoria found the species in the sand dunes of northwestern South Africa.
Before rediscovering the Dwindon golden mole rat, researchers meticulously collected soil samples and then performed genetic analysis. This discovery is an important breakthrough in the field of nature conservation. Jacobs Syllen, senior conservation manager at the Endangered Wildlife Trust and leader of the expedition, commented in a statement: "While many doubt that the Dwindon golden mole still exists, I firmly believe that the species is not extinct. ”
Since golden retriever moles usually live in almost inaccessible burrows and rarely leave passages, the expedition team relied on advanced EDNA technology to search for DNA traces left by animals in the environment, such as cells, hair, or feces. Samantha Muinhardt, conservation geneticist at the Endangered Wildlife Trust** and Stellenbosch University, said: "Extracting DNA from soil is not without its challenges, but we are always honing our skills and refining our technology. Now we are very confident that if the Dwindon Golden Mole is in the environment, we can discover it by finding its DNA and sequencing it. ”
The researchers were able to accurately identify the species by comparing it with a DNA reference sequence from the Devington golden mole rat, which had been preserved in a museum in South Africa for decades. (Compiled by Liu Lifei).
*: Reference message.