Saint Chrotomys

Quick watercolor doodle. So happy to finally have watercolors again.

Kil found out the local natural history museum was having a session where you could talk with a biologist about his work in the Philippines. He is categorizing some pretty rare rodents, including those (striped shrew-rats) that belong to the genus Chrotomys. Two invasive species (introduced by humans, though the reasons are unclear) that are wreaking havoc on rice crops are giant earthworms and rats. People started wiping out all the rats (including the endemic dear Chrotomys), rather than just the introduced ones. Turns out rats in the genera Chrotomys and Rhynchomys actually feed exclusively on earthworms and snails. Thanks to this research, people now know not to kill them, as they help control not only the giant earthworms, but also an introduced species of snail.

Rats fighting off giant worms to save villages? Yeah, how could this not happen.