Why Are Congo Rodents So Strange?

What have you ever learned about the rainforest? That it is a place where a ton of different species of plants and animals live? Yes that’s right!  But it seems that Congo rodents have gotten that memo.

  • Primary rainforests are known to be some of the most biodiverse and abundant places on Earth.  This means that while they may not have a lot of members of one species, they do have a lot of different types of species.  For example, think about all of the corn in a corn field, versus all the different plants in a section of a forest.
  • Something strange was recently found by scientists about rodents in the Congo.  Scientists working in the Masako forest found that the diversity and abundance of rodents was its lowest in primary forest.
  • This data supports the theory that many rodent species thrive in human-impacted areas.
  • Rodents also are now thriving in a place which is not their natural habitat, throwing off the balance of their ecosystem.
  • It is very important that when humans are expanding their territory that we think about the impact on local species.
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