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| From National Geographic |
It has been ages since I posted a Weekend Wonders animal description, so it is high time I added another. Meet the Pyrenean desman (Galemys pyrenaicus)!
Never heard of it? Neither had I until a few days ago when my husband left me a magazine clipping describing this little semi-aquatic insectivore and its imperiled existence. Pyrenean desmans inhabit the mountainous northern region of the Iberian peninsula and the French Pyrenees Mountains. They spend most of their time in cold mountain lakes, rivers, and streams where they forage for aquatic insects and crustaceans.
The Pyrenean desman is well-adapted for aquatic life, with large webbed feet, a long tail vertically flattened at the end to serve as a rudder, the ability to close its ears and nostrils underwater, and a long, flexible snout covered with sensitive vibrissae that can be held above water like a snorkel or used as a probe while foraging. These mammals are solitary, nocturnal, and monogamous with no known natural predators. However, threats including habitat fragmentation and pollution, the introduction of invasive predator species, and climate change all appear to have led to a precipitous decline in the population. The IUCN lists the Pyrenean desman as vulnerable, which means it is likely to become endangered unless the threats to its survival are reduced or removed.
This innocuous little creature should not be allowed to disappear just because so few people are even aware it exists, so I hope that more of us will learn of its plight and do what we can to help save it!
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| From Encyclopedia of Life |
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