Using blood leeches 'Asian unicorns'

Sao la - a rare species of ungulate animals - is considered the 'Asian Unicorn', because many people believe that it is only in legend, has been discovered by a scientist 'thrilling' from the analysis of DNA taken from local leukemia blood.

>>>Saola - impressive discovery for 100 years

Scientists already know that the DNA of a mammal that has ever sucked blood, is stored in the intestine in the intestine for a long time to trace it back. To confirm whether this method could be applied, they arrested 26 leeches raised with goat blood for 4 consecutive months. From time to time, they took leech blood, cloned by PCR and analyzed. As a result, DNA was discovered in the mitochondrial DNA of goats. Proved, this is an effective method to track the legendary animal.

Vietnamese colleagues helped them collect small leeches with the scientific name of Haemadipsa, living on suspicion that there were still surviving Sao la species, on Truong Son mountain range (Central Vietnam), and sent out. foreign DNA analysis. 21 out of 25 leeches have found the DNA of many mammals of different origins. In each leech there is only the DNA of a specific animal, of one last blood sucking. A strange pattern is considered to be the saola.

Search technology has just been published in magazines
Current Biology and summary on NatureNews website

Although the exact location of Saola has not been found, scientists believe that the results of the experiment are positive. They hoped to find the DNA of this rare, single-fingered ungulate, if it expanded the area of ​​the study area. Scientists believe that Saola, bison and antelope cannot cross the Vietnam-Laos border.

Later, the scientists unknowingly saw the skull of the animal they were looking for hanging on the wall of a local house hunted in 1993. After eating the animal, the hunter retained the skull. Its made of indoor decoration.

The first picture of the living Sao la was taken in 1996, when the local people caught a few. But in the last few decades no one has ever seen the saola. It was not until 2010 that local people caught a female star, because of captivity, it died a few days later. This is the only type left with a few individuals, listed as extremely endangered, endangered.

It is really difficult to study the remaining species that live in hiding and in very small numbers. Before discovering the method of tracing them through DNA stains from leech intestines, one of the authors, Nicholas Wilkinson, failed to try to find Saola by arranging automatic camcorders, even use both hounds to hunt. Now the authors believe that after 10 years of perfection, the DNA-based approach to finding traces of species in the environment will become the primary method for detecting a new species.

To get information about the habitat of rare animals, scientists sometimes apply non-traditional methods. For example, zoologists have recently used pink lice to study lemur populations in Madagascar.