Galen Rathbun’s research career has focused on mammalian behavioral ecology and conservation, including a long-standing focus on African mammals. It was therefore a logical step in 2002 to gather like-minded colleagues to form the Afrotheria Specialist Group. The Group’s focus is on the smaller and lesser known afrotheres (hyraxes, aardvark, sengis, tenrecs, and golden moles) because the larger representatives (elephants and sea cows) have their own Specialist Groups.

“Most people, including many biologists, are not familiar with the smaller afrotheres, much less their conservation issues, so foremost is a need to educate people. We will continue to focus much of our educational effort through our website (http://www.calacademy.org/research/bmammals/ afrotheria/ASG.html), where our newsletter can also be found,” says Galen.

“Next year we will fill the golden mole and tenrec gaps on the website, and continue to update other sections. We also plan on producing one or two newsletters a year, which reach readers in Africa who do not have Internet access. Popular magazine articles will also continue to be an important educational tool, and next year one of our members will write a popular article on tenrecs for Africa Geographic magazine.”

“The second thrust for action for our Group is providing expert advice to all that seek it, including for the IUCN Red List and the Global Mammal Assessment. Of course the basis of our expertise is research, which our members will continue to pursue and we will continue to endorse, especially when it generates information useful to conservation efforts. Research is especially important because so little is known about afrotheres, and without information, conservation needs and priorities are difficult to define. As we gain a better understanding of afrotheres, we will explore ways of producing an integrated conservation plan for this unusual group of African mammals,” explains Galen.