{"id":102973,"date":"2026-09-30T10:08:19","date_gmt":"2026-09-30T13:08:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chile.travel\/blog\/researchers-discover-mammals-pollinating-the-flowering-desert\/"},"modified":"2026-09-30T10:19:44","modified_gmt":"2026-09-30T13:19:44","slug":"researchers-discover-mammals-pollinating-the-flowering-desert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chile.travel\/en\/blog\/researchers-discover-mammals-pollinating-the-flowering-desert\/","title":{"rendered":"Researchers discover mammals pollinating the Flowering Desert"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Behind the dazzling visual spectacle that blankets the arid soil of northern Chile in flowers, known as the Flowering Desert<\/a>, there exists a silent nocturnal army of mammals working to keep this unique ecosystem alive.<\/p>\n\n

An unprecedented study revealed by independent photographer and researcher Bernardo Segura<\/strong>, alongside scientist Jaime Mart\u00ednez<\/strong> (INIA) in conversation with Chile es Tuyo<\/strong>, has recorded for the first time in Chile mammals such as rodents, marsupials, and foxes playing a key role in the pollination of emblematic flowers of the Flowering Desert, such as the lion’s claw<\/strong> (Bomarea ovallei<\/em>).<\/p>\n\n

Mammals are pollinating the Flowering Desert<\/h2>\n\n

When visitors explore the Flowering Desert during the day, they usually observe bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. However, the real action for several native species occurs in the dark. <\/p>\n\n

Armed with camera traps and an ecological hunch, Segura decided to monitor the lion’s claw, an emblematic creeping flower<\/strong> and endangered species that lives solely in the coastal strip of the Atacama Region.<\/p>\n\n

The results were immediate: the cameras captured the exact moment when small animals insert their snouts into the flowers to feed on nectar, transporting pollen from one plant to another.<\/p>\n\n

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“It blew my mind that this wasn’t known before. That animals like mice or marsupials are pollinating such an emblematic flower is something that had never been recorded in Chile<\/strong>,” highlights Bernardo Segura. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

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Photography by Bernardo Segura.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

The unusual pollinators of the night<\/h2>\n\n

The study, which is being prepared for publication in a specialized scientific journal, has identified various protagonists of this ecological process:<\/p>\n\n