Once-thought extinct volcano mouse rediscovered

A mouse thought to have been blasted out of existence after the massive 1991 volcanic eruption in the Philippines has been rediscovered. The Pinatubo volcano mouse (Apomys sacobianus) was rediscovered in 2011 and 2012 during fauna surveys on the volcano nearly 20 years after the mouse was thought to have disappeared. In fact, during surveys, mice were the most common of 17 mammal species recorded on the volcano. Other species also appeared to be thriving in the disturbed landscape. “For some time, we’ve known that many of the small mammals of the Philippines can tolerate habitat disturbance, both natural and human-caused,” said Eric Rickart, Curator of Vertebrates at the Natural History Museum of Utah, “but most of them are geographically widespread, not locally endemic species which usually are viewed by conservation biologists as highly vulnerable.”

Read more at The Weather Channel.