Tasty New Mammal Family
Scientists have created the first new mammal family since 1974, when the bumblebee bat was discovered. Say hello to the southeast asian rock rat, laonastes aenigmamus, a previously undiscovered rodent which is said to resemble a cross between a rat and a squirrel, but which is in fact a fairly distant relative of any other currently living rodent.
So what kind of intensive field work led to this amazing discovery? Years of turning over rocks and cutting through Asian thicket, no doubt.
Well, not exactly.
Biologist Robert Timmins reports that he stumbled across the rock rat on sale as a snack food in Laos.
Sometimes the process of discovery can only be described as delicious. I'm not quite sure whether this is one of those times.
(via GeekPress)