The Optimist
  • Home
  • About
    • Advertise
    • Policies
    • Staff Contacts
    • Jobs
  • News
  • Sports
  • Opinion
    • Columns
    • Editorials
  • Multimedia
    • Photo Galleries
    • Videos
  • Features
  • Print Edition
    • The Pessimist
    • Special Projects
  • Police Log
  • Classifieds
You are here: Home / News / Biology professor discovers new species

Biology professor discovers new species

October 15, 2013 by Eric Terrazas

During the summer of 2010, a student expedition to Ecuador’s Sangay National Park led an ACU professor to discover a new species of opossum.

The Northern Shrew Opossum will be making its scientific debut in the Oct. 2013 issue of the Journal of Mammalogy.

Dr. Tom Lee, Biology department chair and professor, made the discovery of the Caenolestes sangay, or the Northern Shrew-Opossum.

The opossum is described to be medium-sized (rat sized), with grizzled brownish back and a cream-colored to pale grayish belly and is missing a chest area. The tail is bi-colored with a very dark back and a warmer, drab brown bottom part. It has large long fangs that are slightly curved near the tip.

The Ecuador project started in 2000 when Lee went to Ecuador with a friend who had been doing research in the Galapagos Islands.

“As a child, I dreamt of going to South America, I told my mother I was heading south and without hesitation she said ‘All right bye,'” Lee said.

Lee said that to find these little creatures they had to trek roughly 11,000 feet up the eastern side of the Andes Mountains, near Sangay, Ecuador’s most active volcano and lies within the park’s boundaries.

All specimens that have been collected were found alongside the Riobamba-Macas highway, which runs right through the park.

“They live under thick fern, and to get to the spot where you can find them is quite difficult in itself,” Lee said.

The new shrew-opossum has been captured both on steep slopes and in level forest-like areas.

Lee said that the discovery shouldn’t be fully credited to him. He said that it was possible with the help of Amy Scott, an ACU student at the time, Carlos Boda who helped plan the trip, and Santiago Bruneo, curator at the Catholic University of Ecuador. Along with others such as Miguel Pinto and Luis Albuja.

“This just proves that Ecuador is an ecological hot-spot, from which we can learn a lot about ecosystems and how they are affected by human activity,” Lee said.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Archive, Faculty

Other News:

  • Provost adopts new policy for emeriti faculty

  • Demolition begins on Sherrod residential apartments

  • ACU Gives exceeds goal, raises over $919,000

About Eric Terrazas

You are here: Home / News / Biology professor discovers new species

Other News:

  • Provost adopts new policy for emeriti faculty

  • Demolition begins on Sherrod residential apartments

  • ACU Gives exceeds goal, raises over $919,000

Follow us online

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Optimist on Twitter

Retweet on Twitter The Optimist Retweeted
optimistsports Optimist Sports @optimistsports ·
26 Jun

The United Athletic Conference is officially taking the place of the Western Athletic Conference in the 2026-2027 athletic year. The UAC is a joint football effort between the WAC and the ASUN but will now extend to all sports. #acuoptimist #acuathletics #wac #uac

Reply on Twitter 1938240320854008109 Retweet on Twitter 1938240320854008109 2 Like on Twitter 1938240320854008109 7 Twitter 1938240320854008109
Retweet on Twitter The Optimist Retweeted
ashleyh1607 Ashley Henderson @ashleyh1607 ·
3 Jun

My second year at ACU was full of opportunities that grew me as an individual and a journalist.

In my first year as editor in chief of @acuoptimist, we published six print issues, filmed a 3-hour live election show, and revamped our newscast, all while producing news weekly.

Reply on Twitter 1929734328445178254 Retweet on Twitter 1929734328445178254 1 Like on Twitter 1929734328445178254 1 Twitter 1929734328445178254

Optimist on Facebook

The Optimist

1 years ago

The Optimist

Video

View on Facebook
· Share

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email

The Optimist

2 years ago

The Optimist
"Ending my college education early was always the plan for me, but the things that I have been able to see, experience and examine about ACU’s community were not. I have found immense growth in ACU over the past three and a half years, but ACU still has a long road to climb if it wants to keep catering to students as the world changes around them." To read more of this article visit acuoptimist.com or click the link in our bio. #acu #abilenechristianuniversity #privatechristianuniversity #collegestudentopinion #acuopinion ... See MoreSee Less

Photo

View on Facebook
· Share

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email

Videos

Optimist Newscast Feb. 28, 2024

Our top stories today include a recap of The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940, the ... [Read More…]

  • Optimist Newscast Feb. 21, 2024
  • Optimist Newscast Feb. 14, 2024
  • Optimist Newscast Jan. 24, 2024

Latest Photos

  • Home
  • About
    • Contact
    • Subscribe
    • Policies
    • Advertising Policy
    • Letters to the Editor and Reader Comments
  • News
  • Sports
  • Opinion
    • Columns
    • Editorials
  • Multimedia
    • Videos
    • Photo Galleries
  • Features
  • Advertise
    • Paid Advertisement
  • Police Log

© 2025 ACU Optimist · All Rights Reserved