In the London Natural History Museum, a dried pangolin skin collected in Nepal in 1836 had lain for decades. No one suspected that this ancient DNA molecule would become the key to the puzzle: Himalayan pangolins are not just a variety of their Chinese relatives, but a distinct species.
An international team of scientists led by Narayan Prasad Koju from Nepal and Anderson Feijó from the Field Museum in Chicago conducted a five-year study. They compared the genomes of modern individuals from the Himalayan foothills with the DNA of the historical specimen. The results, published in the journal Communications Biology, showed a complete match: animals from Nepal, northern India, Bhutan, and Myanmar form a separate evolutionary lineage.
Externally, the differences are modest but consistent. The Himalayan pangolin is larger, with a longer tail and noticeably smaller ears—which is why the old name Manis aurita, given as early as 1836, is now restored to priority. Previously, in 2025, the same species was proposed to be named Manis indoburmanica, but the rules of zoological nomenclature gave preference to the earlier description.
The discovery has direct implications for combating poaching. Pangolins are the most trafficked mammals on the planet: their scales are valued in traditional medicine. Often, seizures contain only scales, without whole animals. Now, the genetic "passport" of the species will allow more precise determination of the origin of illegal catches and direct conservation efforts where pressure on the population is particularly strong.
Museum collections played a decisive role here. Without access to old specimens, scientists would not have been able to link modern data with the historical type specimen. This is a reminder: natural history repositories are not just archives, but living laboratories capable of revealing secrets even after almost two centuries.
Clear species distinction also helps in reintroduction programs: now mistakes can be avoided where Chinese pangolins might have been released into Himalayan forests, where a different species lives.
Precise knowledge of which pangolins live where gives conservationists a real tool to protect endangered populations.
