Some tropic animals are so rare , they have n’t been spy by researchers in twelvemonth . Though many are simply subtle — in dim jungle sphere , it ’s well-to-do for modest or skittish beast to stick hidden , even from photographic camera - traps — others are critically endangered . Because of this , scientist who need to find grounds of rarefied animals , or census the jungle , ca n’t rely on direct observance . Instead , they ’ve set out employing an irregular strategy : leeches .
According toThe Atlantic , when leeches feed on blood , they ’re also collecting brute DNA , which survives in their system forat least four months . Researchers can study DNA collected from leech to get a common sense of the image of animal living in a region . For example , researcher Thomas Gilbert , an innovator in leech DNA sketch , sequenced the DNA in 25 leeches and line up evidence of six mammals , include hog , cows , and badgers . He also encounter DNA from the Annamite striped rabbit — a coinage so rare , it had n’t been see in more than 2000 hours of photographic camera trap footage .
Douglas Yu , a researcher from the University of East Anglia and China ’s Kunming Institute of Zoology , is currently using leeches to search for an endangered antelope called the saola . Yu has enlisted an army of around 200 rangers from the Forestry Department of Yunnan Province in China to collect leeches — the forest fire fighter also keep lead of their Global Positioning System locations as they walk , for provide the most information possible about the locations of different animal . They ’ve collected around 20,000 leeches so far , revealing an amazing kitchen range of animal life story — though they have n’t find the saola yet .
Scientists are hopeful that as the database of animal DNA becomes more complete , leeches will make it significantly easy to keep track of rare animal species . After all , while tracking down rare animals can be extremely difficult , finding leeches is easy — as Gilbert toldThe Atlantic , “ The leech collector just propose his / herself up for lure . ”
[ h / t : The Atlantic ]
