A view from the top of Sarin Volcano, one of three volcanoes in the Andes where researchers discovered the mummified corpse of a rat. The combined analysis of mummies and the capture of live specimens suggests that the rodents are able to climb Mars-like peaks on their own and somehow survive there.
This study rules out any connection to Inca rituals and suggests that the rats ascended independently.
At the top of a 6,000-foot volcano in the middle of the driest desert on earth, the environment was harsh and unforgiving. Temperatures were consistently below freezing, oxygen levels were less than half that at sea level, and strong winds whipped over the mountaintops across the sparse, rocky terrain.
In the 1970s and 1980s, carcasses of several rats were first discovered during expeditions to several Andean peaks, and researchers believed that the rodents must have hitchhiked with the Incas. It was initially thought that these pinnacles served as altars for the ceremonial sacrifice of children to the Inca gods. This led to the assumption that the rats probably rushed into the firewood and other supplies that the Incas had hauled up the slopes, or they were sometimes among the animals sacrificed along with humans.
In early 2020, a live specimen of a hedgehog was captured at the 22,000-foot peak of Lullillaco, a volcano that straddles the Chilean-Argentine border, casting doubt on the initial hypothesis. The analysis of mummified corpses, combined with the capture of live specimens discovered across the Andes, confirmed that the rats ascended the volcanoes independently. The capture of additional live specimens and the study of the mummies further solidified the evidence that the rats are able to survive at such high altitudes.
Further research and analysis are underway to understand the genetic insights and mysterious survival of the rats and to determine what drives rats to such high altitudes. The researchers are working to answer the ongoing question of why the rats rise to such extreme altitudes in the first place. This research was funded by grants.
Source: scitechdaily.com
