Hog-nosed rat discovered in Indonesia
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E-mail China.org.cn, October 8, 2015
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Hyorhinomys stuempkei. [Photo/Museum Victoria] |
A new species of mammal -- the hog-nosed rat-- has been discovered in Indonesia, Museum Victoria said in a statement on Tuesday.
Discovered in a remote and mountainous area of Sulawesi Island in Indonesia, the hog-nosed rat, named Hyorhinomys stuempkei, is a new species of mammal previously undocumented in any scientific collection.
The new species has such a unique anatomy and is so genetically different from other species that it was described not only as a new species but a new genus, Museum Victoria scientists said.
The team's research will be published as the cover story of the October edition of Journal of Mammalogy.
Discovered by an international team comprising scientists from Australia, Indonesia and the United States, this new discovery is the third new genus described by this international collaboration since 2012, and identifies a rodent with features never seen by science before.
As the name suggests, one of the primary and most unusual features of the hog-nosed rat is its large, flat, pink (hog-like) nose with forward-facing nostrils. It also possesses extremely large ears; long hind legs; a very small mouth opening; long, white incisors.
"To Australians, hyorhinomys, is a bit like a rat version of a bandicoot, with long hindlimbs, huge ears, and a long, pointed face perfect for slurping up invertebrate prey," said Dr. Kevin Rowe, one of the researchers based at Museum Victoria.
The hog-nosed rat is a carnivorous rodent, and probably feeds exclusively on earthworms, beetle larvae, and other invertebrates.
The Hog-nosed Rat is related to a group of carnivorous rodents from Sulawesi, called "shrew rats". The new species is anatomically and genetically distinct from any of the previously known genera and species; it has never been documented previously and is not known from any scientific collections.
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