A sniffer dog in South Africa made the breakthrough of a lifetime after rediscovering a rare mole species thought to have gone extinct nearly 90 years ago, the Endangered Wildlife Trust reports.
With the help of a trained Border Collie named Jessie, scientists from the EWT – in collaboration with researchers from the University of Pretoria – found evidence of the existence of 11 De Winton’s golden moles, a rare mole species last seen in 1936.
The De Winton’s golden mole is a totally blind mole with a dense, shiny coat and no visible ears. However, they have an advanced structure in their inner ears that gives them a heightened sense of hearing. Unlike other normal moles, De Winton’s golden moles, which often live underground, navigate or rather “swim” through sand without leaving tunnels behind, making them difficult to locate.
Technique used to find the rare mole species
Since there are approximately 21 species of golden moles, scientists applied the environmental DNA (eDNA) technique, which involves tracing DNA shed by the elusive species in the form of bodily excretions, skin cells, and hair remnants as they move around.
Having already obtained a De Winton’s golden mole DNA sample decades ago. Jessie put his nose to work and was able to find De Winton’s golden mole DNA traces in the soil of South Africa’s Port Nolloth beach.
EWT’s senior conservation manager, Cobus Theron, celebrated the breakthrough, saying, “Though many people doubted that De Winton’s golden mole was still out there, I had good faith that the species had not yet gone extinct.” Continuing, he added: “Now not only have we solved the riddle, but we have tapped into this eDNA frontier where there is a huge amount of opportunity, not only for moles, but for other lost or imperiled species.”
