Found: 4 New Species of Gopher-Like Mammals
The tuco-tucos were discovered in Bolivia, where the Andes kept the populations apart.
Four new species of gopher-like rodents have been discovered in southern Bolivia.
Commonly called tuco-tucos, after the short "tuc tuc" sound of their vocalizations, Ctenomys are small, burrowing mammals. The four new species were found by Scott Gardner, curator at the University of Nebraska State Museum, and his research team after nearly three decades of sporadic fieldwork in the Andes and surrounding lowlands.
Tuco-tucos grow up to 12 inches (30 centimeters) long, weigh less than 1 pound (0.45 kilograms), and subsist on a diet of roots and vegetation. Scientists believe there are 38 to 60 species in South America, 12 of which have now been identified in Bolivia.
Gardner says the expedition team first located the new species in the
