90 percent of mammal species from this island can't be found anywhere else

Luzon Island in the Philippines is believed to have the "world's greatest concentration of unique mammal species."

In a recently published study, an international team has documented 56 resident non-flying mammal species on the island. 52 of them have not been found anywhere else and 28 were identified during the project, which began in the year 2000.

A press release states that among them are "four species of tiny tree-mice with whiskers so long they reach nearly to their ankles, and five species of mice that look like shrews and feed primarily on earthworms."

The high level of diversity on Luzon has been attributed to the island's large size of about 40,000 square miles, mountainous terrain, and isolation from other land masses.

As a result of these factors, scientists believe that the native animals have had the time and opportunity to diverge into different species that are unique to the area.

The team hopes to encourage conservation efforts on the island which is home to about 50 million people and has undergone significant deforestation.

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