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A Bushveld sengi or Elephantulus intufi are are “crucial” indicators of environmental health. (Dr. Maria Oosthuizen via SWNS)<\/p>\n
By Stephen Beech<\/p>\n
An ultra accurate footprint tracker has been developed to monitor endangered tiny mammals.<\/p>\n
The state-of-the-art technology can identify species which were previously only distinguishable by DNA, say scientists.<\/p>\n
While less visible than dwindling lion or panda populations, ecologists explained that the “quiet crisis” of small mammal<\/a> extinction is arguably worse for biodiversity.<\/p>\n They say the creatures are “crucial” indicators of environmental health.<\/p>\n But they can be very hard to monitor as many species with very different ecological niches look almost identical.<\/p>\n But now scientists have developed a new way of identifying and monitoring the tiny mammals using their footprints.<\/p>\n The technology was tested on two near-identical species of sengi, native to southern Africa, and found to be up to 96% accurate, according to a study published in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution<\/a>.<\/p>\n Co-author Dr. Zo\u00eb Jewell, of Duke University Nicholas School of the Environment<\/a>, North Carolina, said: \u201cWe had two key motivations for undertaking this study.<\/p>\n An Eastern Rock sengi or Elephantulus myurus. (Dr. Maria Oosthuizen via SWNS)<\/p>\n By Talker<\/p>\n \u201cFirstly, to find a better, more ethical, and more scientifically robust way to monitor even the tiniest species, and secondly, to provide a reliable and broad metric for ecosystem integrity that can be applied routinely and regularly \u2014 a new pulse on the planet.\u201d<\/p>\n She says that small mammals play a critical role<\/a> in ecosystems and are very sensitive to any environmental changes, which means that changes in their populations can be important early warnings of ecological disturbances.<\/p>\n But many are near-identical “cryptic” species, which makes it difficult to monitor them accurately.<\/p>\n Dr. Jewell explained that is the case for the species the team used to test their footprint identification technology, Eastern Rock sengis and Bushveld sengis.<\/p>\n She said: \u201cIt’s often only possible to distinguish between cryptic species using DNA, which can be slow, invasive, and costly.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s really important to know which is which, because although these species might look the same, they face different environmental threats and play different roles in the environment.<\/p>\n “For example, in our study, one of the sengis lives exclusively in rocky habitats and the other on sand, and each can act independently as an indicator in those environments.\u201d<\/p>\n But she says there is one important distinction between the sengis: their feet are slightly different, leaving crucial differences in their tracks.<\/p>\n Wynand Uys<\/p>\n By Talker<\/p>\n The research team set out to capture the differences and train a model that could distinguish between Bushveld sengis and Eastern Rock sengis\u2019 footprints, like tracking animals with a computer.<\/p>\n The scientists collected sengis from Telperion Nature Reserve<\/a> and Tswalu Kalahari Reserve in South Africa.<\/p>\n The 18 Bushveld sengis sampled were found only in Tswalu Kalahari Reserve, but a total of 19 Eastern Rock sengis were found at both sites, some occupying habitats very close to Bushveld sengis.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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