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Newly-discovered Indonesia rat 'like no other' - BBC News
Newly-discovered Indonesia rat 'like no other'
6 October 2015 Last updated at 08:27 BST
A team of scientists have discovered a new species of rat in Indonesia.
The species, which has been named Hyorhinomys stuempkei - hog-nosed rat - has "distinct and unique features uncommon to other rats", they said.
Five of the rodents were discovered on Sulawesi earlier in January by researchers from Australia, Indonesia and the US.
"It's got enormous ears for an animal of this body size," remarked Dr Jake Esselstyn from the Museum of Natural Science.
From Jakarta Post
New Species Found in Indonesia: 'Hog-Nosed Rat' | Jakarta Globe
Jakarta. A research team from Australia, Indonesia and the United States has confirmed that a new species has been discovered, which they refer to as "the hog-nosed rat," located in the remote, high-altitude jungle of Mount Dako in Central Sulawesi.
The mammal, which was given the scientific name "Hyorhinomys stuempkei," was first discovered in 2013 but genetic testing recently confirmed that it was not only a new species but also a new genus.
The discovery was published for the first time in the latest issue of Journal of Mammalogy, where the mammal was described as having distinct features including a very small mouth, large front white teeth, big ears, and nostrils resembling a hog's snout.
The curator of mammals at Louisiana State University, Jake Esselstyn, said he and other members of the team of researchers knew they were looking at a new species the first time they saw the 40-45 centimeter long mammal. “We had never seen anything like this,” Esselstyn said, as quoted by The Guardian.
Museum Victoria mammalogist Kevin Rowe, another member of the team, said the Hyorhinomys' mouth can hardly open, suggesting that the carnivorous rat slurps up its food.
The animal's diet consists of small invertebrates.
"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," Rowe told the Sydney Morning Herald.
“There’s a lot of bio-geographic complexity [in Sulawesi]. So we’re not too surprised that we’re finding new things. But our team has been a bit surprised by the degree to which these animals are really novel. They are not just subtly different organisms, but really charismatically different,” Rowe told the Guardian.
The hog-nosed rat was found in the cool but humid moss forests of the mountain, some 1,600 meters above sea level.
The team, which also includes researchers from Indonesia's Museum Zoologicum Bogoriense, was in the midst of working on a project to document and establish the area's biodiversity, which has long been considered a hot spot of endemic species, when they discovered the new mammal.
Newly-discovered Indonesia rat 'like no other' - BBC News
Newly-discovered Indonesia rat 'like no other'
6 October 2015 Last updated at 08:27 BST
A team of scientists have discovered a new species of rat in Indonesia.
The species, which has been named Hyorhinomys stuempkei - hog-nosed rat - has "distinct and unique features uncommon to other rats", they said.
Five of the rodents were discovered on Sulawesi earlier in January by researchers from Australia, Indonesia and the US.
"It's got enormous ears for an animal of this body size," remarked Dr Jake Esselstyn from the Museum of Natural Science.
From Jakarta Post
New Species Found in Indonesia: 'Hog-Nosed Rat' | Jakarta Globe
Jakarta. A research team from Australia, Indonesia and the United States has confirmed that a new species has been discovered, which they refer to as "the hog-nosed rat," located in the remote, high-altitude jungle of Mount Dako in Central Sulawesi.
The mammal, which was given the scientific name "Hyorhinomys stuempkei," was first discovered in 2013 but genetic testing recently confirmed that it was not only a new species but also a new genus.
The discovery was published for the first time in the latest issue of Journal of Mammalogy, where the mammal was described as having distinct features including a very small mouth, large front white teeth, big ears, and nostrils resembling a hog's snout.
The curator of mammals at Louisiana State University, Jake Esselstyn, said he and other members of the team of researchers knew they were looking at a new species the first time they saw the 40-45 centimeter long mammal. “We had never seen anything like this,” Esselstyn said, as quoted by The Guardian.
Museum Victoria mammalogist Kevin Rowe, another member of the team, said the Hyorhinomys' mouth can hardly open, suggesting that the carnivorous rat slurps up its food.
The animal's diet consists of small invertebrates.
"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," Rowe told the Sydney Morning Herald.
“There’s a lot of bio-geographic complexity [in Sulawesi]. So we’re not too surprised that we’re finding new things. But our team has been a bit surprised by the degree to which these animals are really novel. They are not just subtly different organisms, but really charismatically different,” Rowe told the Guardian.
The hog-nosed rat was found in the cool but humid moss forests of the mountain, some 1,600 meters above sea level.
The team, which also includes researchers from Indonesia's Museum Zoologicum Bogoriense, was in the midst of working on a project to document and establish the area's biodiversity, which has long been considered a hot spot of endemic species, when they discovered the new mammal.
