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Lost World of Fanged Frogs and Giant Rats

Posted by kdawson on from the raise-you-one-camouflaged-spider dept.

pilsner.urquell writes "40 previously unidentified species were discovered inside the crater of an extinct volcano on Papua New Guinea. The finds include a hairy caterpillar, an iridescent beetle, a striped possum, and what may be the world's largest rat — the size of a 'well-fed cat,' and showing no fear of man. The extinct volcano Mount Bosavi last erupted more than 200,000 years ago." There are also an audio interview with the expedition leader and a gallery with 15 photos of the new species.

20 of 93 comments (clear)

  1. world's largest rat by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Here in the USA, we call those "lawyers". I've seen a few upside 'ah 300 lbs. You can't hunt 'em though :(.

    1. Re:world's largest rat by nomad-9 · · Score: 2, Funny

      Here in the USA, we call those "lawyers". I've seen a few upside 'ah 300 lbs. You can't hunt 'em though :(.

      ...which is surprising, since they're not listed as an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) :

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_endangered_species_in_North_America

      :(

  2. In other news... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    The newly discovered Giant Rat was wiped out by a swarm of XP farmers.

  3. Those guys have a pair... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Jungle Spider

    A quick google / wiki couldn't give me any deep information about a "jungle spider". Is that guy really holding an unknown species of spider with his bare hands? That's pretty ballsy.

    1. Re:Those guys have a pair... by EdIII · · Score: 3, Funny

      It is certainly foolish.

      I don't know why, but it reminds of an anecdote I heard quite some time ago. Well, anecdote is probably not the right word for it, but I will repeat anyways. I can't give credit to anyone, since I cannot remember where it was from in the first place.

      Two aliens come upon each other in their travels. They strike up a conversation which lasts for some time. The one alien notices a strange protrusion from its new acquaintance. Bulbous with a large amount of holes of varying size and shape. It asks, "Do you mind if I have sex with that?". The other alien says, "That's exactly what I said about two hundred years ago.".

      I guess you could call it more of cautionary tale than a moral one.

    2. Re:Those guys have a pair... by Xest · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Probably, but you have to remember those well versed in the biology of certain species will know enough to know whether it's safe to deal with.

      I have spent a lot of time studying succulent plants, and whilst members of the Cactaceae family are non-toxic, some members of the Euphorbia family have evolved in a convergent manner such that they have the same features of cacti however have a toxic sap, which can burn the skin. If I encountered a new species of plant that was succulent and spined I know enough to be able to tell you whether you can or can't safely handle or drink it's sap.

      There's also the behavioural aspect in insects and animals such that they can be handled if you know how to handle them, and what the tell tale signs are to avoid them and avoid handling them.

      So between understanding the biological traits of a species that define it's capabilities, and understanding the stances and movements of a species, you can judge pretty well how safe a new, previously undescribed species is to handle, and in fact, you can know a lot more about it than you might realise at first.

    3. Re:Those guys have a pair... by metlin · · Score: 4, Informative

      I believe that it's originally from Scott Adam's piece - "Life will NOT be like Star Trek".

      The original goes like this:

      Sex with Aliens

      According to Star Trek, there are many alien races populated with creatures who would like to have sex with humans. This would open up a lot of anatomical possibilities, but imagine the confusion. It's hard enough to have sex with human beings, much less humanoids. One wrong move and you're suddenly transported naked to the Gamma Quadrant to stand trial for who-knows-what. This could only add to performance anxiety. You would never be quite sure what moves would be sensual and what moves would be a galactic-sized mistake.

      Me Trying to Have Sex with an Alien

      Me: May I touch that?

      Alien: That is not an erogenous zone. It is a separate corporeal being that has been attached to my body for six hundred years.

      Me: It's cute. I wonder if it would let me have sex with it.

      Alien: That's exactly what I said six hundred years ago.

  4. Missing Tag by HW_Hack · · Score: 2, Funny

    I mean really - rodents of unusual size -- clearly a tag of Fire Swamp is required

    --
    Its not the years, its the mileage .....
  5. Re:Is it possible by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    Viruses tend to rely critically on their hosts' genome, so there really isn't any danger of a new lethal human virus: we are too different. Bacteria, on the other hand, is undoubtedly a living organism, so it's quite possible it is robust enough to nail our immune system. OTOH, it hasn't been exposed to any antibiotics, so infections would probably be highly treatable.

  6. Pristine Ecosystems by zlel · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Do newly discovered ecosystems also represent new ecosystems of viruses, bacteria and diseases?

    1. Re:Pristine Ecosystems by bertoelcon · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Do newly discovered ecosystems also represent new ecosystems of viruses, bacteria and diseases?

      IANAB* but, yeah they probably have new/different bacteria, viruses and diseases but most of those are probably tailored to the animals living there and aren't going to cause human problems until some mutations occur.

      * I am not a biologist.

      --
      Anything can be found funny, from a certain point of view.
    2. Re:Pristine Ecosystems by Rogerborg · · Score: 2, Funny

      Perhaps ignorance is contagious?

      Aaargh, it's all over my face!

      --
      If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
    3. Re:Pristine Ecosystems by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

      Prions, parasites, fungi, radiation, autoimmune, genetic, many kinds of chemicals. I probably missed a few.

      Have a nice day.

  7. BBC has a video of the rat by blau · · Score: 5, Informative

    Here...

  8. vulnerable by apodyopsis · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The first thing that crossed my mind is that all these species are localized to one particular area and hence rather vulnerable if the environment changes in any way.

    You only need to introduce 1 badly chosen predator and its the Stephens Island Wren all over again.

  9. Re:Hrm... by Slayer · · Score: 3, Funny

    There was a fake article about such an animal years ago on thedailymash (an English satire online publication). The article can be found here. It's shocking how accurately satire can sometimes describe future events :)

  10. Large rats by aclarke · · Score: 2, Interesting

    This is slightly OT, but in high school in Kenya, some guy came by who was buying frozen rodents for dissection in American college biology classes. He was paying something like $0.50 or $1 per rodent. We got him as many bats as he could handle (which was less than we'd hoped for) but my friend put out a bounty out to the local community on rodents. He said he'd pay them something like $0.15 per rodent they brought him.

    I guess he didn't specify DEAD rodents so someone assumed he meant alive. According to the who brought the rat, he had his 4 year old son go into a hole and pull out a giant rat that was so big that it had to be folded up to fit in a shopping bag. My friend got this rat in the bag, which I saw. It was still alive, barely. My friend stopped the bounty at that point as he didn't want to be responsible for some kid getting seriously injured for $0.15.

    --

    www.clarke.ca
  11. Re:Vampire frogs by Cheesetrap · · Score: 3, Funny

    Don't hang your head, you're exposing your neck to assault!

  12. Forget the rats and frogs! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Everyone here seems to be missing the an important part of TFA. Here's the paragraph with what I'm refering too, emphasis added on the important part:

    They found the three-kilometre wide crater populated by spectacular birds of paradise and in the absence of big cats and monkeys, which are found in the remote jungles of the Amazon and Sumatra, the main predators are giant monitor lizards while kangaroos have evolved to live in trees. New species include a camouflaged gecko, a fanged frog and a fish called the Henamo grunter, named because it makes grunting noises from its swim bladder.

    I didn't know that Paupa New Guinea had kangaroos at all, much less any that lived in trees!

    1. Re:Forget the rats and frogs! by douglasdoughty · · Score: 3, Informative

      It may not be exactly what you are thinking... at least it wasn't what I was thinking
      http://www.greenexpander.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/new-species-tree-kangaroo.jpg