Ok. I have two things for you today that you may not know. I certainly didn’t. First, rodents are the most common mammal on the planet. Forty percent of all mammals are rodents. If that stat freaks you out, keep in mind that there are many, many species of rodent, including chipmunks, squirrels, porcupines, and beavers, just to name a few. So we’re not talking just mice and rats. But still, that’s a pretty uncomfortable thought, if you ask me.

The second thing is what made rodents so successful—why there are so many of them. It’s all down to their thumbs, at least according to a paper that came out in Science a few weeks ago. Not only do they have opposable thumbs (or at least 86 percent of rodent species do), those thumbs have nails. That’s the superpower that made it possible for rodents to take over the world — or at least to live in almost all of it. With its hard nail, rather than a claw, the thumb makes it easier for rodents to grab tasty tidbits, like nuts and small seeds, and stuff them into their mouths. That means rodents can be very versatile in what they eat. And that means the world is their oyster. Well, no. Just like us, they would need an oyster knife for that.

Stay curious,

Avery

Image courtesy Leopold Boettcher via Pixabay