Scientists use DNA from poop to avoid wasting the world’s rarest marsupial

Scientists in Australia are utilizing cutting-edge DNA methods to assist save one of many world’s rarest marsupials — the critically endangered Gilbert’s potoroo, with fewer than 150 left within the wild. By analyzing tiny traces of DNA within the animals’ scat, researchers uncovered clues concerning the elusive fungi the potoroos rely upon for survival. The findings might assist conservationists determine safer new habitats and set up backup populations earlier than disasters like bushfires wipe them out.