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New Carnivore discovered (strange pic)
Reuters ^ | 12/5/05 | none

Posted on 12/05/2005 11:35:29 PM PST by dangus

GENEVA (Reuters) - Environmental researchers are preparing to capture what they call a new, mysterious species of carnivore on Borneo, the first such discovery on the wildlife-rich Indonesian island in over a century.

Swiss-based environmental group WWF said on Monday its researchers photographed the strange animal, which looks like a cross between a cat and a fox, in the dense, central mountainous rainforests of Borneo.

"This could be the first time in more than a century that a new carnivore has been discovered on the island," said the WWF in a statement.

The mammal, slightly larger than a cat with red fur and a long tail, was photographed twice by a camera trap at night.

Locals and wildlife experts who viewed photographs of the animal, which has very small ears and large hind legs, said they had never seen such a creature before and were convinced that it was a new species, WWF said.

Researchers hope to confirm the discovery by setting cage traps to catch a live specimen, but warn that Indonesian government plans to clear the rainforest to create the world's largest palm oil plantation may interfere with plans, WWF said.

The proposed plantation scheme, funded by the China Development Bank, is expected to cover an area of 1.8 million hectares, equivalent to about half the size of The Netherlands, said the WWF, formerly known as the World Wide Fund for Nature.

The potential new species of carnivore in Borneo would be the first since the discovery of the Borneo ferret-badger in 1895, the WWF said.

Pictures of the animal were first taken by WWF researchers in 2003, the photos kept unpublished by the WWF as research continued. The WWF decided to make public the photos with the release of a book about Borneo, to be published on Tuesday.


TOPICS: Australia/New Zealand; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: borneo; crevolist; cryptobiology; cryptozoology; godsgravesglyphs; lookslikeadamncat
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To: FreedomCalls

Thanks. After less than one second, I saw it just fine, but the lightening up of the photo is certainly nice.


61 posted on 12/06/2005 8:24:37 AM PST by dangus
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To: kanawa

ROTFLOL.


62 posted on 12/06/2005 8:25:46 AM PST by new cruelty
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To: dangus
Looks like somebody's pet Lemur got loose and got busy with the local tomcat.


63 posted on 12/06/2005 8:27:27 AM PST by Bloody Sam Roberts (This is my tagline. There are many like it but this one is mine.)
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To: dangus

You think he'd be treacherous? He looks like a guide to me...


64 posted on 12/06/2005 8:29:46 AM PST by Lady Jag (Honor - Dignity - Courage - Troll Consumption)
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To: martin_fierro

Gee, you pinged me and got me interested in it, then I forgot to ping you. #54, I'm a "duh".


65 posted on 12/06/2005 8:34:45 AM PST by Lady Jag (Honor - Dignity - Courage - Troll Consumption)
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To: FreedomCalls

>> You're out of date. There is no such thing as a Brontosaur anymore. They are Apatosaurs now. What they thought was a Brontosaur turned out to be a misidentification of a Apatosaur, so the earlier discovered one, the Apatosaur, gets to keep the name and Brontosaurs are no more. <<

O, believe me... I know about Ogden Marsh and the Apatosaurus. (Him and Stan from South Park are held by me to be very distant relatives.) Two points, however:

1. I am seeing a lot of sources, such as the Smithsonian, which have dropped the name "Apatosaurus" and reverting to the name "Brontosaurus," so I infered maybe they've decided to call the Apatosauri, Brontosauri, even if the original Brontosaurus has the wrong skull. (It's not like there were already Apatosauri known at the time.)

2. I said, "Brontosaur," referring to a class (actually, IIRC, a supergenus, to use proper phylogenic terms) of sauricians. While even the use of supergenera isn't universal in phylogeny, I did not believe that those that adopted the use of the term for the supergenera dropped the term, "Brontosaur." I only knew that the genus name was changed to Apatosaur. Or, are you only recognizing Diplodocidae as a subgrouping of Sauropodimorphae above the genus level?

[PS: Wikipedia refers to "Brontosaurus" only as being an errant identification of Apatosaurus, but also lists an "Eobrontosaurus." I'm not familiar with that. Is that what the Smithsonian is identifying as a Brontosaur? Have they passed the name onto a different species?]


66 posted on 12/06/2005 8:49:15 AM PST by dangus
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To: All

"The Age" from Australia has this artist concept.
The Age Article
viverrid is a good guess - look at a pix of the 'aquatic genet' from U of Michigan :

67 posted on 12/06/2005 9:30:42 AM PST by BigEdLB (BigEd)
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To: All

The Binturong is a viverridae also found in Borneo...Anyone near the San Diego Zoo can see one there...

Binturong Range...
68 posted on 12/06/2005 9:40:57 AM PST by BigEdLB (BigEd)
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To: dangus

CHUPACABRA!!


69 posted on 12/06/2005 9:45:00 AM PST by Delta 21 (MKC USCG-ret)
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To: dangus
It's a fossa!


70 posted on 12/06/2005 9:50:37 AM PST by TC Rider (The United States Constitution © 1791. All Rights Reserved.)
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To: Lady Jag

Ees hokay. < |:)~


71 posted on 12/06/2005 10:31:11 AM PST by martin_fierro (< |:)~)
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To: BigEdLB

Bear cats are AWESOME creatures. In the late 80's and early 90's a I worked at a zoo that was was leader in offspring of these creatures. I raised several groups of babies. Memories never to be forgotten.

PS. They realy really really smell! LMAO


72 posted on 12/06/2005 10:38:10 AM PST by BlueStateDepression
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To: All

Could it be that Paris Hilton got rid of another exotic 'pet'?


73 posted on 12/06/2005 10:38:49 AM PST by BlueStateDepression
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To: dangus
Looks very similar to the fossa:


74 posted on 12/06/2005 10:41:54 AM PST by ican'tbelieveit
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To: dangus; cricket; FreedomCalls
Brontosaurs are said to have had brains in their ass! Seriously. There was what is more properly called a "ganglial mass" of neurons near the Brontosaurs' tookus.

I believe you're confusing Brontosaurus with Stegosaurus, which had the ganglial mass at the base of it's tail. The tail itself had sharp tusks at the end which could have been used to defend the Stegosaurus from predators. The ganglial mass was thought to be the "brain" for the tail.

75 posted on 12/06/2005 10:50:42 AM PST by tarheelswamprat
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To: tarheelswamprat; cricket

I certainly remember ol' Steggy; one of the most architypical dinosaurs around (like Triceratops, Tyrannosaurus, Iguanodont and the non-dinosaurs, Dimetrodon and Pterodactyl). But actually, what I was refering to was the Sauropods. I recall what you mean about Steggy, but the notion with the Suaropods was that their neck was so very long, and so far from the tail, that they were thought to have a relay station of sorts. (Such a "relay station" does, in fact, exist even in humans, but only in a much more simple form.)

By the way, speaking of ol' Steggy: Did they ever figure out how to attach the plates? Or what exactly they were for? Last I saw, they were still showing them as a frill down the spine, but were becming suspicious of that.


76 posted on 12/06/2005 11:14:01 AM PST by dangus
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To: dangus

I thought my mother in law was in Texas for the winter....


77 posted on 12/06/2005 11:14:45 AM PST by WV Mountain Mama (I have a drink at night for my heart. Yeah, my heart, that's it.)
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To: dangus

Yum-yum, eat-um-up, eat-um-up!
78 posted on 12/06/2005 11:16:08 AM PST by Calpernia (Breederville.com)
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To: martin_fierro
Ees hokay. < |:)~

Tanques.

79 posted on 12/06/2005 11:47:08 AM PST by Lady Jag (Honor - Dignity - Courage - Troll Consumption)
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To: dangus
(Such a "relay station" does, in fact, exist even in humans, but only in a much more simple form.)

You're right. In males, we call it the "little head". It definitely thinks for itself and is quite capable of controlling our behaviour. /grin

80 posted on 12/06/2005 12:38:27 PM PST by tarheelswamprat
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