Voalavo is a genus of rodent in the subfamily Nesomyinae, found only in Madagascar. Two species are known, both of which live in mountain forest above 1250 m (4100 ft) altitude; V. gymnocaudus lives in northern Madagascar and V. antsahabensis is restricted to a small area in the central part of the island. The genus was discovered in 1994 and formally described in 1998. Within Nesomyinae, it is most closely related to the genus Eliurus, and DNA sequence data suggest that the current definitions of these two genera need to be changed. Species of Voalavo are small, gray, mouse-like rodents, among the smallest nesomyines. They lack the distinctive tuft of long hairs on the tail that is characteristic of Eliurus. The tail is long and females have six mammae. In Voalavo, there are two glands on the chest (absent in Eliurus) that produce a sweet-smelling musk in breeding males. In the skull, the facial skeleton is long and the braincase is smooth. The molars are somewhat high-crowned, though less so than in Eliurus, and the third molars are reduced in size and complexity.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voalavo

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

79:

According to estimates based on the Codex Laurentianus Mediceus, Mount Vesuvius erupted, burying the Italian towns of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Stabiae in rock and ash. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eruption_of_Mount_Vesuvius_in_79

1814:

War of 1812: British forces invaded Washington, D.C., setting fire to various US government buildings, including what is now the White House (damage pictured). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burning_of_Washington

1914:

World War I: The Battle of Cer ended as the first Allied victory in the war. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cer

1941:

Adolf Hitler ordered the official termination of the T4 euthanasia program of the mentally ill and disabled, although killings continued in secret for the remainder of the war. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_T4

2006:

The International Astronomical Union redefined the term "planet", reclassifying Pluto as a dwarf planet since it has not "cleared the neighbourhood" around its orbit. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IAU_definition_of_planet

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

hilum: 1. (botany) The eye of a bean or other seed; the mark or scar at the point of attachment of an ovule or seed to its base or support. 2. (botany) The nucleus of a starch grain. 3. (anatomy) A depression or fissure through which ducts, nerves, or blood vessels enter and leave a gland or organ; a porta. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hilum

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness. What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places — and there are so many — where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction. And if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.   --Howard Zinn https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Howard_Zinn