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| Aesop (by Diego Velasquez) |
Some might recall the fable in which an elephant (or lion, take your pick) spares the life of a mouse. When the great beast is afterwards bound to a tree by hunters, the tiny mouse gnaws at the rope and sets it free.
It seems quite improbable that an elephant and a mouse would have that much in common; however, truth turns out to be even stranger than fiction.
Laura Zuckerman of Reuters
reports that “a new mammal” has been discovered in the wilds of western Africa. This
mammal looks like a “long-nosed mouse,” but is actually “more closely related genetically to elephants.”
Dubbed the “elephant shrew,” its scientific name is Macrosciledes
micus. This creature only weighs about an ounce, and is little more than half a foot long.
Nevertheless, it symbolizes the miracles that can occur when elephants and mice (or anyone, for that matter) lay aside their differences and form unlikely friendships.
Resources
http://news.yahoo.com/california-scientists-discover-mouse-mammal-related-elephants-012052534.html
Copyright June 28, 2014 by Linda Van Slyke All Rights Reserved
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