RARE FIND: The hog-nosed rat discovered in Indonesia -
SCIENTISTS have discovered a new species of rat in Indonesia with a strange mix of features never seen before, including a hog-like snout, big ears, a tiny mouth and curiously long pubic hair.
The rat, first discovered in 2013 in the remote mountain jungles on the island of Sulawesi, has been named Hyorhinomys stuempkei, or hog-nosed rat.
Scientists said the creature was unique and that it had been listed as an entirely new genus.
“I am still amazed that we can walk into a forest and find a new species of mammal that is so obviously different from any species, or even genus, that has ever been documented by science,” Dr Kevin Rowe, a researcher from Museum Victoria in Australia, said.
The rat, likened to a bandicoot, was carnivorous and believed to eat earthworms, beetle larvae and other invertebrates.
It weighs about 255g and is 40cm to 45cm in length.
Rowe said the rat’s pubic hair was curiously long and may serve some function in successful mating.
The rat was discovered in a forest some two days’ hike from the nearest town. The scientists were led into the forest by residents of Malangga Selatan, a small village.
The findings, by researchers from Australia, Indonesia and the US, are being published in the Journal of Mammalogy.
– The Telegraph
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