Lost World of Fanged Frogs and Giant Rats 93
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.
Re: ROUS (Score:1, Funny)
Wasn't this already a movie?
Rodents of Unusual Size [cardboardmonocle.com]
p.s. Princess Bride was arguably one of the best movies ever made.
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EEEEK!
Re:Hrm... (Score:4, Funny)
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Hello, I'm Doug McClure. You may remember me from such films as "The Land that Time Forgot" and "Chupacabra, the 'yo quiero Taco Bell' heir".
world's largest rat (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 :(.
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Here in the USA, we call those "lawyers". I've seen a few upside 'ah 300 lbs. You can't hunt 'em though :(.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_endangered_species_in_North_America [wikipedia.org]
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Neither are carrots, but they still make an excellent snack.
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Don't hang your head, you're exposing your neck to assault!
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By the Frogs !..... Riding the rats !
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In other news... (Score:5, Funny)
The newly discovered Giant Rat was wiped out by a swarm of XP farmers.
This sounds familliar... (Score:1)
Ah... fun times in Un'goro crater...
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Is there raptors in there? They are good for skinning and grinding on.
Ah... fun times in Un'goro crater...
I wouldn't let you go dry-humping specimens on MY excavation site! Some people... *shakes head*
finally (Score:1)
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Giant Rats are level 9. Jeez. All these n00bs who've never played Dungeon Master, and think they know something about RPGs ;)
But seriously... give it a go. It's a very cool (abandonware) game when you get into it. The giant rats might not scare you much, but the giant scorpions, deathknights, and dragons will.
Those guys have a pair... (Score:3, Interesting)
Jungle Spider [guardian.co.uk]
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.
Re:Those guys have a pair... (Score:4, 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.
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There's something about that story... It has a certain quality to it. What quality exactly? Ah yes, it's disturbingly bizarre.
Though apropos.
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... don't have sex with bulbous protrusions on aliens?
What?
Re:Those guys have a pair... (Score:5, Informative)
I believe that it's originally from Scott Adam's piece - "Life will NOT be like Star Trek" [troutman.org].
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.
Don't need to go so far... (Score:2)
You don't need to go into space for sexual cautionary tales like that. For instance, if I recall correctly, there's a filipino tale about a guy who made love to a hole in a tree and became obsessed with it.
Re:Those guys have a pair... (Score:5, 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.
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Sookie? Is that you? Aah told yah tuh stay inside.
Is it possible (Score:1)
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Takes guts to hold a new species of spider... (Score:2)
Pest control (Score:2)
Note to self, cancel all plans for a vacation on Mount Bosavi.
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Missing Tag (Score:3, Funny)
I mean really - rodents of unusual size -- clearly a tag of Fire Swamp is required
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youkeepusingthattag
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An earlier article said around 1.5 kilograms (no I can't find it again). Our cat is reasonably small at 3 kilograms, so this rat would hardly be the size of a "well fed cat."
Having said that, I doubt I'd want it trying to take a chunk out of my leg.
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I wanna be a popstar.....
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All well and good but where's my GIANT ENEMY CRAB?
www.parishilton.com
Pristine Ecosystems (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Pristine Ecosystems (Score:4, 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.
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viruses, bacteria and diseases?
Great - As if I didn't worry about my health enough... now there are diseases IN ADDITION to viruses and bacteria.
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Perhaps ignorance is contagious?
Aaargh, it's all over my face!
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Don't forget fungal infections!
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Prions, parasites, fungi, radiation, autoimmune, genetic, many kinds of chemicals. I probably missed a few.
Have a nice day.
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The joke here, that no one got, is that "disease" is caused by viral and/or bacterial infections. All these other things are "disorders" and other types of medical problems but are not diseases.
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Finally (Score:1)
BBC has a video of the rat (Score:5, Informative)
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Well, that tells you something about their behaviour! And it's quite amazing how docile this one is. I had pet hamsters who were nowhere near as friendly (some who'd try to eat the flesh out of your fingers given any chance).
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Why do I suspect a rat that is tame enough to pet is probably ill. As if you'd want to pet a wild rat in the first place, let lone one which is dying already.
What delicate wonders (Score:2)
have died out of the world, for want of the strength to survive.
vulnerable (Score:4, 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.
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One badly chosen predator, i.e. homo sapiens?
Hope they didn't use the old discovery method... (Score:1)
"He's like a little puppy." (Score:2)
Favorite line in the video: "He's like a little puppy."
Fangless (Score:1)
Why is the frog photographed with mouth closed? How are we supposed to see the fangs?
"showing no fear of man" (Score:2)
They'll learn.
Large rats (Score:3, Interesting)
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.
Gives us a timeline of the rate of change (Score:2)
Rodents of unusual size? (Score:2)
I don't think they exist. *pounce*
Yes, but... (Score:2)
There's bigger rats than that, and they aren't all that rare. They're widely distributed in North America, but tend to congregate in Ottawa and Washington in Parliament, the Senate and Congress.
Favorite quote (Score:2)
"It was mind-blowing to be there and it is clearly time we pulled our finger out and decided these habitats are worth us saving," said Dr George McGavin who headed the expedition.
What a great call to action for the world over... "pull your finger out" and get back to work!
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Forget the rats and frogs! (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:
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http://www.greenexpander.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/new-species-tree-kangaroo.jpg [greenexpander.com]
Kilometre-deep? (Score:1)
Speak (Score:2)
and what may be the world's largest rat -- the size of a 'well-fed cat,' and showing no fear of man.
Bigger than a capybara?
I wonder how The Tick will respond to this revelation.
Wonder what else is out there. (Score:1)