A black cat named Pepper is not a professional scientist, but he has contributed more to science than most cats. Pepper is a talented mouser. He belongs to Dr. John Lednicky, a virologist at the University of Florida's College of Public Health and Health Professions. Last year, Pepper dutifully brought a dead mouse to share with his human, and Lednicky took it to his lab for testing. The mouse was carrying a jeilongvirus, the first ever found in the US.
Now Pepper has done it again when he brought home a dead shrew. Lednicky again took it to the lab, and found the shrew infected with a previously-unidentified strain of orthoreovirus. Pepper was not listed as an author of the science paper, and was only acknowledged as "a pet cat." He deserves more recognition for his contributions. You can read about the virus-finding cat at the University of Florida Health site. -via Boing Boing
(Image credit: John Lednicky)