Scientists from the European University at St. Petersburg, together with colleagues from Moscow State University and the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan, have decoded the complete genome of the Russian desman for the first time. The results revealed the species' very low genetic diversity. These data will help develop scientific methods for its conservation and population restoration. A report on the study was published in Izvestia.
Here is a comment from Artem Nedoluzhko, head of the European University's Paleogenomics Laboratory:
“Russian desmans are of interest because they are a relict species, millions of years old. However, they have undergone gradual changes throughout their evolution. Therefore, one of the goals of the study was to understand why these animals—contemporaries of mammoths and woolly rhinoceroses, which successfully survived the Ice Age—are now threatened with extinction."
More about the study and comments from other experts can be found in Izvestia's article.
Фото: РИА Новости/ Пелагия Тихонова