Giant Rat Discovered in Indonesia Jungle

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | 12/17/07 | AP

[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....

[robomatik]

good g-d! dousing eyes with water! “cant see! eyes are burning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

[AzNASCARfan]

only 5x the size of a city rat?? That is only big, maybe large, but not giant... we have giant rats here in Arizona that go 65+ lbs, they are called Javelina

[gigster]

That’s it? In my neighborhood in Detroit that would be the runt of the litter!

[UCANSEE2]

“What the heck were Bill and Hillary doing in Indonesia?”

Trying out her new “Hell-o-copter”.

[KTM rider]

What was Ted Kennedy doing in the jungle ?

[Arthur McGowan]

Actually have to give Nadler credit. He’s lost a TON of weight.

[ASA Vet]

Yesterdays version

[JLS]

Unearthing new species of mammals in the 21st century is considered very rare.

Rare? Two in seven years would be about 28 or 29 in the century. Afterall that is how they do global warming "science." Or maybe it is 200 durning the century since we have at least 2 this year?

[Bon mots]

That's nothing. We have nastier beasts in the jungles of Congress.

[Soliton]

What was Ted Kennedy doing in the jungle ?

They mate this time of year

[valkyry1]

An apt cartoon on Obama

[TheMole]

Hard to believe nobody posted this.

Or this.

[ZULU]

There are even bigger rats down in Congress

[Brilliant]

His name is Teddy.

[Some Fat Guy in L.A.]

I thought Al Gore was in Bali.....

[klgator]

Bingo! The first thing that came to mind was the giant rat of Sumatra. Holmes never got around to telling that one to Watson.

[G8 Diplomat]

It is a special species of rat...democ rat

Or maybe it was just Helen Thomas

[COBOL2Java]

Mammalogist Martua Sinaga holds a Mallomys giant rat that was found in the Foja Mountains in Indonesia's Papua province in this undated handout photo released to Reuters on Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2007. Scientists believe they have found two new undocumented mammals -- a pygmy possum and a giant rat -- in the jungles of the remote mountain range, a conservation group said. It was unclear whether the rat favored Hillary Clinton or Barak Obama.