🌍Boomernaija
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With freezing temperatures of down to minus 40 degrees Celsius (minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit) and vegetation hundreds and sometimes thousands of meters below the mountain tops, the summits of the Andes mountains maintain an extremely harsh environment.

So how did a species of leaf-eared mouse make this barren land their home?

That is the question a team of scientists from Argentina, Chile, Bolivia and the United States are looking to answer after discovering 13 mummified mice at elevations above 6,000 meters (19,685 feet) in the Atacama Plateau of Chile and Argentina. Their discovery further proves the species is the world’s highest dwelling mammal, according to the study recently published in Current Biology.

The mice, called Phyllotis vaccarum, are commonly found living in the Andes mountains at lower elevations, all the way down to sea level. In 2020, a living mouse was recorded at the summit of Llullaillaco, a volcano with an elevation of 6,739 meters (about 22,110 feet) on the border of Chile. It currently holds the world record for highest living mammal, said Jay Storz, co-study author for the new and 2020 studies.

The discovery of the living mouse spurred Storz to conduct expeditions at 21 different volcanoes. The 13 mummified mice were found on the Salín, Púlar and Copiapό volcanoes.🌍