Jake Esselstyn and his team discovered 14 species. Kevin Rowe has credit.
Fourteen new species of shrews are the largest number of new mammals described in a scientific paper since 1931. A group of scientists led by LSU mammologist Jake Esselstyn have identified 14 new endemic species of Indonesian shrews.
The findings are detailed in a paper published in the Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History.
A group of people joined Esselstyn's research journey, including current LSU graduate student Heru Handika, and LSU alumni Mark and Anang, as well as Siena College student Thomas Giarla.
"It's an exciting discovery, but frustrating at times," said Esselstyn, who is an associate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences. There is a big thrill when we discover one new species at a time. For the first several years, we couldn't figure out how many species there were.
A clearer picture began to emerge after the research team looked at an extensive collection of genetic and morphological data from new and old specimens. The group recognized 21 species on Sulawesi, including 14 new ones. The diversity of shrews on Sulawesi is three times greater than on any other island.
The subgroup has skulls. Jake Esselstyn was credited.
Shrews are a diverse group of mammals and have a global distribution. The small insectivorous animals are related to moles and hedgehogs.
This discovery is a big deal for Esselstyn's research. When he was a graduate student at the University of Kansas, he was interested in testing hypotheses that might explain the shrew diversity in Indonesia. After finishing his degree, Esselstyn and Achmadi began capturing shrews on the island, but soon realized there were too many unrecognized species to test their ideas.
Esselstyn is interested in exploring the geographic, geological and biological factors that have contributed to Sulawesi's extraordinary biodiversity after he feels he has a handle on the shrew diversity of the island.
Taxonomy is the foundation of so much biological research. Our capacity to understand and preserve life is limited when we don't know how many species there are. It's important that we document and name the diversity. Imagine what the diversity is like in less well-known organisms if we could make discoveries of this many new species in mammals.
The Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History has more information on the Fourteen New Endemic Species of Shrew from Sulawesi. There is a book titled "10206/0003-0090.454.
The major discovery in the animal kingdom was made on December 15, 2021.
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