![]() In the wild, they are hard to locate, and the technology scientists use to monitor other species often fails when it comes to pangolins - the animals sometimes use trees to rub radio tags from their scales. They fare poorly in captivity only a few zoos have managed to house them successfully. ![]() One reason little is known about pangolins is that they are notoriously difficult to study. The research was undertaken to produce information about the pangolin’s genome in order to support conservation efforts - all four species of the pangolin are endangered. Tinsman collaborated on the study with colleagues from UCLA and several other universities around the world, as well as zoos and research organizations. “There’s nothing else like them on the planet they’re in their own order, their own family,” said Tinsman, a UCLA research fellow and co-author of the study, adding that pangolins’ closest relatives include cats and rhinoceroses. Male white-bellied pangolins have a different number of chromosomes, 113, than their female counterparts in most species, males and females have the same number. The scientists also identified another genetic quirk. Other pangolin species have more typical numbers of chromosomes, ranging from 36 to 42. The scientists discovered that the female white-bellied pangolin has 114 chromosomes, more than any mammal except the Bolivian bamboo rat, which has 118 - and far more than humans, who have 46. Now, a new paper published in the journal Chromosome Research, reveals what UCLA researcher Jen Tinsman calls a “scientific surprise” that underscores how unusual the animal is. There’s a lot scientists don’t know about the pangolin - a peculiar, scaly mammal that looks like a cross between an aardvark and an armadillo.
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