CAPE TOWN, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- A species of mole with an iridescent coat sheen that "swims" in sand has been rediscovered in South Africa after it hadn't been seen for 87 years and was thought to be extinct, researchers announced.
Researchers from the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT), a South African nonprofit organization, and the University of Pretoria found traces of the De Winton's golden mole, which "has been lost to science since 1936," on a beach in Port Nolloth on the west coast of the country, said a statement issued by the EWT on Tuesday.
"It was a very exciting project with many challenges," EWT senior field officer Esther Matthew said in the statement. "Luckily we had a fantastic team full of enthusiasm and innovative ideas."
The researchers covered up to 11.2 miles of dune habitat a day as they spent months hunting for signs, Matthew said.
According to the statement, the rediscovered De Winton's golden mole -- which is from South Africa -- is the 11th of the world's most wanted lost species to be rediscovered since the Search for Lost Species was launched in 2017.
In addition to living in largely inaccessible burrows, golden moles have extremely sensitive hearing and can detect vibrations from movement above ground, which helps them avoid being seen from the surface.
The EWT and University of Pretoria researchers used a sniffer dog to find traces of the moles' tunnels, but because there are 21 species of golden moles, they needed more to determine that the traces were left by a De Winton.
"The EWT-led team used a burgeoning technique never used before to detect golden moles: environmental DNA (eDNA), which is the DNA that animals shed as they move through the environment, typically in the form of skin cells, hair and bodily excretions," the statement said.
More than 100 samples were collected in June 2021 from beaches and dunes on the northwest coast of South Africa -- including Port Nolloth beach, the only place where De Winton's golden mole had ever been found -- and a complex and comprehensive genetic analysis of each sample were conducted.
When the team compared their eDNA sequences from Port Nolloth beach to a new reference sequence made available in 2022 by a South African museum in Cape Town, "it was a clear match to De Winton's golden mole," said the statement.
The team's research and findings were peer-reviewed and published on Nov. 24. ■
