This Strange Mole Lives In The Deserts Of Australia, And Scientists Are Unearthing Secrets About Them For The First Time
Beneath the deserts of Australia, a tiny and mysterious mammal glides through the sand—the marsupial mole. There are two species of the marsupial mole.
The southern marsupial mole, Notoryctes typhlops, is found across the deserts of central and southern Australia.
The northern marsupial mole, Notoryctes caurinus, is found in the deserts of northwestern Australia. These elusive creatures have been impossible to observe until now.
Marsupial moles are about the length of a pencil, and they only weigh between 40 and 70 grams. They have tubular bodies, yellow hair, and limbs that barely even stick out from their sides. Instead of building tunnels, they smoothly burrow through the loose sands.
Since they live underground in such a vast environment, they are rarely ever spotted. Only a handful of sightings are reported each decade. But now, new DNA technologies can provide a glimpse into the lives of the species.
A research team worked with the Australian Biological Tissue Collection at the South Australian Museum to examine two small tissue samples from a southern marsupial mole that were frozen more than a decade ago.
They extracted long fragments of DNA and sequenced them to learn more about the species’ traits and evolutionary history. Marsupial moles have developed many unique features to help them survive in their harsh environment.
For instance, their eyes are tiny and located beneath their skin, so they are functionally blind. They lost genes related to eyesight because the ability to see clearly isn’t very important when living underground. For mammals living on the surface, this change would likely be harmful to them.
But the gradual degradation of eye genes in the marsupial mole’s ancestors allowed them to change without negatively affecting their fitness.
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The researchers also showed that a key gene involved in the dropping of testicles during puberty was lost in this species, possibly explaining why male marsupial moles have their testes located in their abdominal wall.
In addition, marsupial moles contain two copies of a gene encoding hemoglobin, the molecule that carries oxygen in red blood cells. This is of great importance to marsupial moles because sand has low oxygen levels and poor airflow.
The double hemoglobin gene is mostly used in newborn mammals. The marsupial’s pouch is already a low-oxygen environment, so the animals needed to evolve ways to prevent their young from suffocating.
The team’s examination of their genome further revealed that marsupial moles are a sister group to bandicoots and bilbies. Their distant cousins are carnivorous marsupials like the Tasmanian devil.
The population health of marsupial moles is currently unknown. However, deserts are one of the ecosystems most at risk of decline due to climate change.
Overall, the new research techniques are extremely helpful for ensuring that our knowledge of marsupial moles is not lost to time like many other mammals in Australia.
The findings were published in Science Advances.
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