Scientists work to save endangered desert mammal
Friday, October 24, 2014 - 06:30
in Paleontology & Archaeology
Amargosa voles, small rodents that inhabit rare marshes of the Mojave Desert, have faced dire circumstances in recent years. Loss of habitat, extreme drought and climate change brought this subspecies of the California vole to near extinction, leaving only a few hundred clinging to existence. It is now one of the most critically endangered mammals in North America. But the vole's luck may be changing with the birth of the first pups from a new captive breeding program at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine.