Pinatubo Island Mouse
In 1991, the Philippines’ Mt. Pinatubo erupted, leaving a huge amount of destruction in its immediate environs. The region was so unstable following the volcano’s outburst that field biologists weren’t able to take stock of the damage for some time. One animal feared extinct was the petite island mouse, only previously observed once in the 1950s. The population was so small back then, scientists figured there’d be no way it survived such a devastating eruption.
They thought wrong. A decade ago, a team led by Chicago’s Field Museum found a multitude of mice dwelling in the windswept, brush-covered landscape that marks a disaster zone’s renewal. The number of the animals has biologists thinking the mouse is something of a disaster expert; the rodent seemed to increase in population in the eruption’s wake. Perhaps it was the effect the cataclysm had on native predators. Happily, the mouse is still kicking—above its weight, if its currently thriving population is any measure of success.
