“Recovery of endangered species is rare. But a rat-sized carnivore called the ampurta (Dasycercus hillieri) has defied the odds, moving from ‘nationally endangered’ to of ‘least concern’ in just two decades.

Dympna Cullen and her colleagues at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, surveyed tracks and other signs of the ampurta’s presence to analyse its expansion across an arid region of Australia. The team also modelled potential causes of this expansion.

The authors found that the ampurta’s range expanded by more than 48,000 square kilometres — an area bigger than Denmark — between 2015 and 2021, despite a record-setting drought occurring during that period.”

From Nature.