New Rodent Species Found

IZ Reloaded writes "A new species of rodent has been discovered by World Conservation Society researcher Dr. Robert Timmins. He found this creature in a hunter's market in Central Laos. The creature known as Kha-Nyou to the locals is so unique it represents an entire new family of wildlife. Kha-Nyou diverged from other rodents millions of years ago."

Comments

Oh..

[kevcol]

I thought this was another exposé on a spammer.

Evolved?

[falzer]

Nonsense! They were designed that way. I'm sure there is some mention of these animals somewhere in The Bible.

Re:Evolved?

[Oligonicella]

Well yeah, it does. Microevolution inevitably leads to macroevolution and therefore species splits. This too, we have observed and documented. Crationists just refuse to acknowledge. That's what is fun to laugh at.

Re:Evolved?

[Daniel Dvorkin]

The totally nonexistent distinction between "microevolution" and "macroevolution" is a classic example of the way religious believers are constantly forced to "move the goalposts" by scientific evidence. The game goes something like this:

Religion: God created every living thing in its current form in six days.

Science: Actually, the Earth is a whole lot older than any literal reading of the Book of Genesis can account for, and here's the proof.

Religion: Um ... okay ... so the "days" were really, really long. But He still created everything in the form it has today. That's what we meant to say all along.

Science: Actually, populations of living things change all the time, and here's the proof.

Religion: Um ... okay ... so change can occur within species. But species themselves do not change, and they are the "kinds" referred to in the Bible. That's what we meant to say all along.

Science: Actually, new species do arise from existing species, and here's the proof.

Religion: Um ... okay ... so some species can evolve into others, but only within taxonomic families. Families are the "kinds" referred to in the Bible, and are eternal. Except for humans, of course, which are different from all other animals. That's what we meant to say all along.

Science: Actually, humans aren't all that different from other animals, and here's the proof.

Religion: Um ... okay ... (etc.)

WWF

[alexandreracine]

Dr Mark Robinson, working with WWF Thailand

Really?? Hes a Wrestler?

Clarification

[skatrek]

AFAIK "family" and "species" mean different things (the mnemonic "King Philip Cried Out For Goodness Sake" comes to mind - the order is kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species) ... they found a new species which is so different they had to make a new family/genus for it?

From TFA

[Albinofrenchy]

From TFA:

Found along side the slender faced rodent was four turtles, with comic head bands. Unfortunatly, the rats previous owner, a martial arts expert, was found killed next to the animals...

I don't understand...

[slapout]

known as Kha-Nyou to the locals

How could it be discovered if it's already known to someone?

Re:I don't understand...

[oscartheduck]

The same way that the American continent was discovered despite there being millions of people living there already.

Discovered doesn't mean "first discovered". It means something more like "finally discovered by a white human male with either a degree or a lot of money".

No replacement for Nutria

[Sean Clifford]

Cool, I wonder how many other mammals we have running around out there waiting to be discovered? Well, maybe not waiting around to be on Leno...

Since the Kha-Nyou only have one pup at a time there's no hope they can displace Louisiana's Nutria rat problem. Interesting that the Kha-Nyou are vegetarian rats; that's certainly an oddity. Rodents tend to eat pretty much everything (Cat5 cables, cardboard, styrofoam, cafeteria food).

Nutria rats are a serious ecological problem around here (rural Louisiana). If you're bored on the weekend you can get $4 a tail.

Re:No replacement for Nutria

[yarbo]

Ratcatching? Think bigger, ratfarming!

Good News for O'Reilly

[Anonymous Coward]

We were just running out of book cover animals.

Why humans rule...

[cfalcon]

We find a new species, and WE ARE ALREADY EATING IT.

"What do you know about this rodent?"
"Very little, we don't yet know where it diverged from modern rodentia. It is, however, *excellent* over rice."

RTFA

[fireboy1919]

Yes. They found a new species that is so differenty they had to make a new family and genus for it.

The articles really short. It took me about 30 seconds to read.

Yes, New Family/Genus/Species, total odd-ball

[billstewart]

One of the articles quoted the guy saying, "we knew we had a really odd-ball rodent." Wikipedia has already been updated to identify it as Family Laonastidae, Genus/Species "Laonastes aenigmamus". The Wikipedia author identifies the suborder as "Hystricognathi"; one of the news articles suggested that Timmons thinks that Laonstes may be an early ancestor of that suborder, but that's filtered through reporter-speak.

An article predating this discovery lists 29 Families of Rodentia. The Old-World Hystricognathi include old-world porcupines, mole rats, cane rats, and Dassie rats; the New World families are a lot broader.

"Rodents of Unusual Size? I don't think they exist!

ROUS's?

[mattOzan]

are they of unusual size? I didn't think they existed...Aargh!

Re:can you sink any lower?

[kfg]

It's disturbing enough that there are people out there eating rodents.

North American rodents quite commonly found on someone's dinner table include, porcupine, squirrel, woodchuck, prarie dog, marmot, and yes, beaver (he, he!)

Just because you can't find it wrapped in plastic and the Grand Union or Piggly Wiggly don't mean it ain't damn good eatin'.

I suppose you're going to get really weirded out when I mention that there are huge swaths of the US where a good cicada "hatch" is considered a bit of a tasty holiday time.

KFG

Re:Who discovered?

[hyfe]

Headline should read: "Pompous university jerk buys what working class already found."

Kinda like someone discovering a continent where there's already living shitloads of people yeah? (and most likely was 'discovered' by vikings earlier anyways)

Either way, anti-intellectualism is bad okay? There is a difference between a small bunch of locals knowing about something and it being part of the general biological knowledge. Now, the knowledge will be part of what people study, and will be preserved.

I mean, how much of what you know and learn do you think you were the first to find out? Learning is next to always about learning from somebody (often by proxy though), and what markes out a discovery is the first person to discover the signifance of the knowledge.

Re:discoveries, eh?

[oneiron]

To discover is to reveal to the modern scientific pool of thought...

Re:can you sink any lower?

[Reene]

I'm sure you can name the genus and species of every creature you shove into your mouth, keeping in mind the variety of rodents and insects you ingest with your fruit and vegetable products.

Unless you've actually tried rodent meat, you really have no place judging people for eating it. What would you do if a Hindu person popped in here and started berating Americans for eating beef and using cow products? At least in their case it's a religious issue.

Re:Actually,

[Lars T.]

God created evolution to punish creatonists.