Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Rats

art.giant.rat.jpg

I haven't posted any weird critters lately (except the Coconut Crab), so here's a giant rat from Indonesia:

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) -- Researchers in a remote jungle in Indonesia have discovered a giant rat and a tiny possum that are apparently new to science, underscoring the stunning biodiversity of the Southeast Asian nation, scientists said Monday.

Unearthing new species of mammals in the 21st century is considered very rare. The discoveries by a team of American and Indonesian scientists are being studied further to confirm their status.

The animals were found in the Foja mountains rainforest in eastern Papua province in a June expedition, said U.S.-based Conservation International, which organized the trip along with the Indonesian Institute of Science.

"The giant rat is about five times the size of a typical city rat," said Kristofer Helgen, a scientist with the Smithsonian Institution in Washington. "With no fear of humans, it apparently came into the camp several times during the trip."

http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/12/17/giant.rat.ap/index.html?iref=mpstoryviewDon't


Pretty cool for a rat.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

It reminds me of the movie the Princess Bride. They had Rodents of Unusual Size. I think that's what they were called!

I'm so glad you posted this. I was hoping someone would!

Justin said...

Wow, you could probably eat that.

zymurgian said...

I dunno man. I saw a rat in Washington Square NYC in plain view at dusk that was pretty much that big.

Anonymous said...

That's no Indonesian rat. It's from Sumatra!