A giant rat of a species previously unknown-to-science has been captured on an extinct volcano in Papua New Guinea.
Found by a tracker from a local tribe, the Bosavi Wooly Rat is 82 cm from the tip of its nose to the end of its tail and it weighs in at a 1.5 kilos. And of course it has a lot of fur, hence ‘wooly’ (pictured right).
“I had a cat and it was about the same size of this rat,” says wildlife cameraman Gordon Buchanan (press release). “This rat was incredibly tame. It just sat next to me nibbling on a piece of leaf.”
The question I really want answered is who would win in a face-off between the new giant rat and the recently discovered rat eating plant.
Buchanan was part of a BBC team filming on Mount Bosavi for TV programme ‘Lost Land of the Volcano’. The team have found around 40 possible new species in addition to the rat, including a subspecies of the strange marsupial cuscuses.
Following the descriptive naming technique, the silky-furred animal has been named the Bosavi Silky Cuscus (pictured left).
“Long ago, it was isolated on this volcano and has become something unique to Bosavi,” says Kristofer Helgen, a biologist at the Smithsonian. “I travel the world looking for mammals in many different places, but to find something of this size for the first time is a cause for major celebration.”
The team also found a new camouflaged gecko and a fanged frog, doubtless to be named the Bosavi Camouflaged Gecko and the Fanged Frog of Bosavi.
Of course, the animals’ unique habitat is already under threat for logging. Just once it would be nice not to have to write that on the end of one of these stories.
You can watch some footage from the expedition on the BBC website. Viewers in the UK can see the first part of ‘Lost Land of the Volcano’ tomorrow on BBC One.
Coverage (with more pictures)
Lost world of fanged frogs and giant rats discovered in Papua New Guinea – Guardian
The rat that’s the size of a cat: BBC team discovers 40 new species in ‘lost world’ – Daily Mail
Fanged frogs and giant rats found in remote Papua New Guinea wilderness – Daily Telegraph
Images: BBC