New Species Of Mole Rat Is Rare Discovery Of New Mammal

Deep in a relatively unstudied region of Africa called the Inkelenge pedicle, researchers have discovered a new species of mole rat, adding to a growing list of endemic species found in the area.

The region occupies parts of Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola and is full of species endemic to the only to the area. To date researchers have found 28 endemic species in the Inkelenge pedicle including one amphibian, five mammals, three butterflies and 19 types of dragonfly, according to Mongabay.com

The region is fulled with gallery forests that run along rivers and wetlands the the land is dominated by the wispy miombo tree.

New species are discovered regularly by scientists, but the vast majority of those discovered are insects. The discovery of a new mammal is rare. Of the 19,232 new species described in 2009, only 41 were mammals, Mongabay reported.

It took several years to conclude that a distinct looking mole rat was a new species, but after DNA and chromosome tests, coupled with a distinct skull shape, it was determined as a new species of mole rat.

Paul Van Daele, lead author of the description of the new species in Zootaxa, named the creature after his late wife, Caroline Van De Woestijne, who helped discover it.

Caroline's mole rat (Fukomys vandewoestijneae) may prove to be useful in cancer research like other species of mole rats have. Because of their ability to live for decades and seeming inability to develop cancers, mole rats have become a focus of cancer studies.

Mongabay has obtained photos of the new species.