This is the record yellow-leaved and corrugated eared mouse captured near the summit of the Llullaillaco volcano on the border of Chile and Argentina.
Marcial Quiroga-Carmona / Universidad Austral de Chile
The highest peaks in the world are not as desolate as scientists once thought. During a mountaineering expedition in northern Chile earlier this year, researchers detected and captured a yellow-humped-leaf-eared mouse high up on the 22,000-foot summit of Llullaillaco Volcano.
The mouse broke the world record for the mammal with the most inhabitants documented by scientists to date. Last year, the same mouse species was seen at 20,340 feet.
In a study published Thursday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, university researchers from the US and Chile document their discovery of rodents and explain that it could help scientists better understand how mammals adapt and survive. to harsh conditions at high altitudes.
This high altitude topographic map shows the places visited during the expedition to capture rodents, which include (A), Llullaillaco Volcano (B), Antofagasta Region, Chile. (C) is a view of Llullaillaco Volcano from the west.
Jay Storz
“The discovery suggests that we have generally underestimated the limits of the altitudinal range and the physiological tolerances of small mammals simply because the world’s highest peaks remain relatively little explored by biologists,” the study says.
The yellow-eared eared mouse (Phyllotis xanthopygus rupestris) lives in the Andes mountains, but also lives at sea level, making it an interesting mammal for scientists to study.
“That wide range is extraordinary,” Florida State University biology professor Scott Steppan told National Geographic. “No other species does that.”
University of Nebraska biologist Jay Storz led the recent expedition that found the yellow-eared mouse at the highest point. Despite the fact that Storz and his team set up small traps to capture rodents for study, he actually caught the mouse on top of the 22,000-foot summit by hand when he saw it running under a rock.
“In one of the most hostile environments on Earth, considered by some to be the closest thing on our planet to Mars, these mice not only survive but apparently thrive,” Steppan said in a statement. “This amazing elevation shows how far life is capable.”
Professional mountaineer Mario Pérez-Mamani, who accompanied Storz on the expedition, captured the moment of catching the mouse on video.
The yellow rump-eared mouse was not the only rodent to break records on the Storz expedition. He also found a lime leaf-eared mouse (Phyllotis limatus) at 16,633 feet. That surpassed previous records of altitude inhabitants for this species.
