Living Fossil Thought Extinct For 11 Million Years Found In Laos, page 1

Living Fossil Thought Extinct For 11 Million Years Found In Laos, page

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Topic started on 14-6-2006 @ 06:07 PM by subz

A rodent species thought to of been extinct for 11 million years has been found alive in Laos by a retired US professor and a Laotian biologist. The Diatomyidae, dubbed "Laotian Rock Rat" isn't actually a rat and was up until now only known from the fossil record. Witnesses say it even waddles like a duck when it walks.

news.yahoo.com
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The first pictures showing a live specimen of a rodent species once thought to have been extinct for 11 million years have been taken by a retired Florida State University professor and a Thai wildlife biologist.

They took video and still photographs of the "living fossil," which looks like a small squirrel or tree shrew, in May during an expedition to central Laos near the Thai border.

Known as Diatomyidae, scientists have nicknamed it the Laotian rock rat. The creature is not really a rat but a member of a rodent family once known only from fossils.

Please visit the link provided for the complete story.

I really love stories like this, they truly humble humanity when an entire species of animal can evade modern science since its inception.

I truly believe science should come up with a better term than "extinct", whats Latin for "haven't seen one in a while"?

[edit on 14/6/2006 by Mirthful Me]

reply posted on 14-6-2006 @ 06:26 PM by thematrix

Well, they actualy say "believed extinct" when there have been no accounts of seeing a live specimen or when the last specimen has been seen a couple decades ago.

I love these kinds of story's too, imho it shows that there are plenty of things out there on our fair planet that we didn't find or see yet.

Also is a good argument point against "noone has ever seen a $insert crypto animal here$ so it can't exist" kinda comments when talking about cryptozoology.

reply posted on 14-6-2006 @ 06:45 PM by ThePieMaN

That looks exactly like a squirrel except for the extended lower jaw area. It has almost the same body. Just cutoff a little of the jawline and its a squirrel.

Nice article and pic!

[edit on 14-6-2006 by ThePieMaN]

reply posted on 14-6-2006 @ 06:48 PM by anxietydisorder

I bet the Laotians that live in the region weren't overly surprised by this amazing discovery. You could probably ask the locals for a recipe for "Rock Rat Kebobs".

It's kinda like the return of the Dibbler.
I still have doubts that a mammal the size of Bigfoot could remain undiscovered, or that Nessie is so elusive that it could avoid detection by scientists. But you never know.

reply posted on 14-6-2006 @ 06:50 PM by Implosion

Originally posted by thematrix
I love these kinds of story's too, imho it shows that there are plenty of things out there on our fair planet that we didn't find or see yet.

I love these stories myself, a little reminder to us, that no matter how smart we think we are, we just haven't got a clue.

reply posted on 14-6-2006 @ 07:35 PM by Matyas

O-Kaay, thats good, but what of its mate so it can reproduce offspring for another 11M years?

reply posted on 14-6-2006 @ 10:08 PM by Free_Man

Originally posted by subz

I truly believe science should come up with a better term than "extinct", whats Latin for "haven't seen one in a while"?

[edit on 14/6/2006 by Mirthful Me]