Fossil Rises From its Grave

gokulpod writes "Scientific American reports that a family of animals known as Diatomyidae thought to have been dead for 11 million years has been discovered in Laos. From the article: 'Fossilized remnants of this group have been found throughout Asia with a distinctive jaw structure and molars. It represents a rare opportunity to compare assumptions derived from the fossil record and an actual living specimen to determine overall accuracy of the techniques involved. This discovery also provides a compelling argument for preservation efforts in Southeast Asia.'"

Comments

i'm sorry

[circletimessquare]

but i would have preferred something called a "rat-squirrel" remain extinct

Re:i'm sorry

[MindKata]

Well, I guess its like the old saying, squirrels are rats with good PR.

Let's Hear it for the Dinosaurs!

[justanyone]

Let's introduce this little guy to the TRS-80, a '59 Chevy, and the reincarnated ghost of Archie Bunker!

Re:Let's Hear it for the Dinosaurs!

[bxbaser]

there goes my business plan of intergrating computers into classic cars.
My dads gonna say "I told you so meathead."

"extinct"

[Dark Fire]

"You keep using that word. I do not think that it means what you think it means..."

11 Million?

[Anonymous Coward]

Diatomyidae thought to have been dead for 11 million years

Or 3,900 years...depending on whether you are wrong or not. Jesus saves!

Re:11 Million?

[HermanAB]

Hmmm, I thought the general American consensus was 6000 years?

Re:Coelacanth

[Anonymous Coward]

Less annoying would have been: "I know how to spell coelacanth!" In case you really aren't sure, the answer to your question is, of course, YES!

It most have seen this...

[Anonymous Coward]

http://www.shockabsorber.co.uk/bounceometer/shock. html

......hmmm

[Anonymous Coward]

.....you say fossil rising from the grave.....

I call her my wife...

Yes it's risen from the grave....

[SynapseLapse]

But has it POWERED UP yet?
Sorry, couldn't resist....

bob

[Anonymous Coward]

Much like Bob the dinosaur, the Diatomyidae has simply been in hiding.

And also

The reports of Diatomyidae's extinction have been premature. To correct this, the Museum of Natural History has offered $1000 for every dead Diatomyidae brought to them, as this is cheaper than correcting the records of Diatomyidae's extinction. And would make the scientists right again.

"think smaller, more legs"

[The Waxed Yak]

Does this mean I can finally have my Ribwich again?

Re:Obligatory comment (Regarding title)

[Bad D.N.A.]

Jesus, you have to explain your joke in your title.... and the joke isn't even funny!

I'm no expert here but he never claimed he was "Jesus"

Re:Coelacanth

[bigpicture]

Millions of years old fossils, and then live specimens of identical genus. Does the theory of evolution have to be reworked?

Thank God...

[tktk]

I thought we were going to discuss the clothing line.

A few of their watches are nice though.

Re:Why...

[Frumious Wombat]

It has, and the Laotians seem to think it's delicious. It's only caught the attention of Western Biologists recently. Laos has always been remote to the west, then you add in the unpleasantness of the 60s and 70s, and the problems to get funding for fauna inventories of faraway places, and you begin to get the picture.

Meanwhil the Laotians are saying, "how inefficient of you Americans, having separate Rat and Squirrel species, rather than one integrated Rat-Squirrel, to take care of your rodentia needs."

Ice Age

[Koohoolinn]

So Scrat really did survive the Ice Age.

Re:Coelacanth

[Anonymous Coward]

No. It's a mammal.

But I heard that they found one wearing a rubber coelacanth suit, complete with aqualung and flippers and pretending to be one.

Is that the one you meant?

Just to say this.

[The Cydonian]

Until last year, the guy who's posted this story to Slashdot used to live in the very room I am posting from. In all my interactions with him, he didn't quite strike as a person who'd be looking up fossil-ized rat-squirrels, and seeing if they were indeed alive, much less pick them from the local wet-market and make kebabs out of them.

So, gokulpod, while it's a known fact that I've dirtied the room more than you could ever imagine, should I nevertheless investigate the nether regions of your old wardrobe and really find out what's inside? Now that your true inclinations are out of the closet, I foresee a few skeletons dropping out of that cupboard.

Spiced Rat (SPRAT)

[Ichijo]

"Why preserve it? It's obviously been doing just fine for 11 million years."

Nonono, preserve, as in sausage. Save-it-for-later sort of thing.

After 11 million years ...

[Macka]

... why isn't this thing walking on two legs, wearing glasses and solving quadratic equations ?

YAHTZEE!

[Anonymous Coward]

If you mis-count by 10 the number of Yahtzee River dolphins (of which there are somewhere between 0 and 33 left)

The Yahtzee river dolphins are freaks of nature developed by Hasbro entertainment as a stunt of genetic engineering, and should be removed from the natural cycle.

I believe you mean Yangtze river dolphins.

Evolved

[buswolley]

! 11 million years!! and no change? And what, was evolution doing all this time, twiddling its thumbs?? It just happened to be the perfect genetic fit for its environment for 11,000,000 years, as well as fooling the rest of the world in thinking it no longer existed? What gives? I know its not 30,000,000 , or 50,000,000 years, but hey!

You'd think that after 10 million years that they'd get tired of being a stinkin rat squirrel.

3-dimentional fool

[bill_mcgonigle]

... why isn't this thing walking on two legs, wearing glasses and solving quadratic equations ?

It is, but we only see the part of the creature that protrudes into our 3-dimensional understanding of space/time.

Stop it...

[Anonymous Coward]

I hate it when people keep on necromancing long-dead species. I'm short on Turn Undead spells already without having to spend them on zombie rock rats...