ABILENE, Texas — An Abilene Christian University biology professor's rodent species discovery has been featured in a section of a new children’s book about recently discovered mammals.
Dr. Tom Lee, Department of Biology professor; Amy Scott (2010), then an ACU biology student; and Carlos Boada, a Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador in Quito, Ecuador researcher and professor, discovered the species in 2010. Their findings were officially published in 2022.
The rat is named Thomasomys burneoi, or Burneo’s Oldfield Mouse, after Lee’s colleague Santiago Burneo, who works at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador. Scholastic Books contacted Lee in 2023, asking to feature it in, Just Discovered Mammals, which was published earlier this year.
“I think it is very important to get children excited about the natural world at an early age, so I was thrilled to see one of my discoveries documented in children's literature. Many more people are going to read this book than are ever going to read the scientific literature where the discovery was published at first,” Lee said.
The book discusses Lee's discovery of the new species and his experience. It describes the characteristics of Burneo’s Oldfield Mouse – a large rat species living in the forests of the Andes mountains – and introduces Lee and the group who first identified the species.
“My family and I are excited to be able to read this book to Evelyn, our granddaughter, and I hope it inspires her to follow her dreams,” Lee said.
Learn more about ACU's Department of Biology.
