Posted on 12/17/2007 10:22:34 PM PST by TFFKAMM
(12-17) 21:46 PST JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) -- Researchers in a remote Indonesian jungle have discovered a giant rat that is about five times the size of a typical city rat and a tiny possum, 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 in the Southeast Asian nation 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."
The possum was described as "one of the world's smallest marsupials."
A 2006 expedition to the same stretch of jungle dubbed by Conservation International as a "Lost World" because until then humans had rarely visited it unearthed scores of exotic new species of palms, butterflies and palms....
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Cryptozoology Ping
And they just love to feed off the taxpayers money and just crap on the country and the President in return.
I wanted to be the first to post a fat dem but you beat me to it.
A rodent of unusual size?
Giant Rats (5): AC 7; MV 12 (Sw 6); HD ½; hp 3,4,4,2,2; THAC0 20; #AT 1; Dmg/AT 1-3 (Bite); Size T (2'); SA Disease SD None; XP 15. Anyone bitten by a giant rat has a 5% chance of contracting a debilitating disease. Those who save vs. poison are not affected.
"Roll for initiative"
AROUS?
Ssshhhh... Be vewy vewy quiet.
Anybody know if Ted Kennedy was missing?
Exactly who I pictured in my Naddled brain! LOL
Al Gore got lost on his way home from Bali?
What the heck were Bill and Hillary doing in Indonesia?
ROUS’s? Their a myth! Aaaargh
There was one on almost every talking head show this weekend too.
Perhaps there are fire swamps around there.
that would be mabye the size of Paris Hilton's little dog.
Half a hit die. That sounds pretty close.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.