Three Tiny Wonders, One Big Breakthrough: UP Scientists Help Uncover Three New Forest Mice in Mindoro

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In the dense, mist-laced forests of Mindoro, where the echoes of tamaraws still haunt the underbrush and the rare Mindoro warty pig roams free, another evolutionary miracle has quietly unfolded beneath the forest floor and among the tangled roots. It’s a discovery so small it could fit in the palm of your hand—but with implications as massive as the island’s rugged mountains.

Three brand-new species of Philippine forest mice, invisible to the world until now, have been officially recognized by science. These tiny mammals, previously misidentified or entirely unknown, are the latest additions to Mindoro’s growing roster of endemic wildlife. And it’s all thanks to the relentless dedication of a team of Filipino scientists, led by the late, great Dr. Danilo Balete, with pivotal contributions from researchers at the University of the Philippines Diliman College of Science’s Institute of Biology (UPD-CS IB).

From 2013 to 2017, Dr. Balete and his team trekked through the relatively unexplored wilderness of Mindoro. Their goal: to survey the island’s forest ecosystems, often overlooked in the broader conservation landscape. What they found was astonishing. Among the island’s leaf litter and mossy rocks skittered three elusive mice—similar in form to the known Apomys gracilirostris, yet strikingly different in behavior, anatomy, and genetic structure.

And so began a scientific odyssey that would span nearly a decade.

Together with Dr. Mariano Roy Duya and Melizar Duya of UPD-CS IB, and in collaboration with international researchers, the team painstakingly analyzed the creatures’ physical and genetic traits. Fur patterns, skull shapes, and mitochondrial DNA sequences were all meticulously compared and cataloged. The result: irrefutable proof that these were not merely variations of known species, but distinct and never-before-seen evolutionary offshoots.

The trio of new species are:

Apomys minor – the smallest of the three, dainty and light-footed, a true miniature of the forest floor.

Apomys crinitus – notable for its distinctively hairy ears, a rare trait that likely plays a role in its adaptation to Mindoro’s unique forest environment.

Apomys veluzi – named in honor of the late Maria Josefa “Sweepea” Veluz, a revered mammalogist of the National Museum of Natural History whose work inspired generations of Filipino biologists.

Their discovery, recently published in the international journal Zootaxa, brings Mindoro’s count of endemic mammal species to twelve—up from nine—firmly establishing it as the smallest island in the world known to host its own clade of newly evolved mammals. In the world of evolutionary biology, this is no small feat. It’s a monumental clue to the intricate web of life that has quietly flourished on the island for millennia, largely shielded from the eyes of modern science.

But the story doesn’t end in Mindoro. The Philippine archipelago, with its complex topography and rich biogeographical history, remains one of the world's most potent hotbeds of biodiversity. Luzon, already hailed for its unique faunal patterns, shares many of the same evolutionary drivers—tectonic shifts, isolation, and habitat fragmentation—that shaped Mindoro's endemic lifeforms. Similarly, parts of Mindanao harbor biological secrets waiting to be revealed.

This is precisely why the Philippines is a dreamland for field biologists and conservationists. With every mountaintop surveyed and every forest floor searched, there is the thrilling possibility of rediscovery—or the naming of something completely new. Yet this scientific goldmine is also fragile. Many of these endemic creatures live in increasingly threatened ecosystems, under the looming pressure of deforestation, climate change, and habitat loss.

Dr. Balete’s work—alongside the contributions of the Duya team and their partners—is more than just academic achievement. It’s a rallying cry. It reminds us that even in a country so often overlooked in global science narratives, we harbor wonders still untold. The tiniest heartbeat in a mouse can reverberate through the corridors of evolutionary history, and it is our responsibility to listen.

In celebrating these new species, we also celebrate the spirit of scientific curiosity, the power of collaboration, and the urgency of conservation. Because in every patch of unexplored forest, another miracle may be waiting.

And we owe it to our future—and the creatures who have been here long before us—to find it, name it, and protect it.

Cover photo:

Mouse A: A. gracilirostris; mouse B: A. veluzi; mouse C: A. crinitus; mouse D: A. minor (Photo credit: Heaney et. al 2025)

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