by In the open-access journal GigaScience, scientists have presented a draft genome of a small shrew-like animal, the venomous Hispaniolan solenodon (Solenodon paradoxus). This species is unusual not only because it is one of the very few venomous mammals, it is also the sole remaining branch of mammals that split from other insectivores at the time of the dinosaurs. The genome sequencing and analysis of this endangered animal was carried out by an international team led by Dr. Taras K. Oleksyk from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez. The availability of the solenodon genome sequence allowed the researchers to answer several evolutionary questions, in particular whether the solenodon species survived the meteor impact ended the dinosaurs.
Source
Source
